Our founder
António de Sommer Champalimaud (1918-2004)
The fruit of progress is freedom of thought. Nobody understood this better than the Foundation’s benefactor, the Portuguese entrepreneur, António de Sommer Champalimaud. No challenge was ever too great for this most ambitious and strong-minded man and he was known never to shy away from controversy. The many accomplishments that distinguish his long and notable career contributed greatly to the prosperity of his homeland. The vision and commitment to scientific progress that inspired the establishment of the Champalimaud Foundation is no exception.
His life
There is a poem by the celebrated modern Greek poet, C.P. Cavafy, entitled, in English translation, “As Much As You Can.” In it Cavafy speaks of a life and declares: Do not disgrace it by taking it, dragging it around often and exposing it to the daily folly of relationships and associations, till it becomes like an alien burdensome life.
Cavafy’s poem is an apt expression of how António Champalimaud lived his life. While in every sense a man of the world, he was an excessively private individual who guarded his privacy and shunned celebrity. It is therefore not surprising that his intention to establish a private foundation in honour of his commitment to the progress of science went unheralded until after his death.
Twice during his lifetime António Champalimaud built one of the most outstanding financial empires of 20th century Europe. His first step into the business world was in the 1930s when, at 19, he entered the cement industry, an industry that would ultimately form the backbone of all his subsequent businesses and investments. He soon expanded his industrial activities to include the production of iron and steel. He established the Portuguese National Steel Works and soon began building cement factories and steel plants in the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique. Later, he entered the world of finance and, soon thereafter, expanded into the insurance market.
His fortune – and that of many others – fell into the hands of the Portuguese revolution in the early 1970s. Despite enormous financial losses, the ever-resilient António Champalimaud moved to Brazil where he re-launched his industrial activities and also began farming and cattle breeding. However, he eventually returned to his homeland in the early 1990s. By the turn of the 21st century, having rebuilt his fortune against all odds, António Champalimaud was again one of Portugal’s most important and influential entrepreneurs.
For those of us fortunate enough to represent the foundation that bears his name, we can only hope the initiatives and programmes we initiate and support over time reflect the creativity, prescience and wisdom that distinguished António de Sommer Champalimaud.
His legacy
Scientists tend to have lively imaginations. They possess a childlike curiosity. They are moved by what they cannot see. They are inquisitors and they live in a world of questions. They are also extremely disciplined, pragmatic and persevering. There is no question that António Champalimaud possessed the spirit of a scientist.
It is said that only a poet can turn historical events into epic. Yet, relative to his own life, the imposing António Champalimaud seems to have done just that. He is the “hero” of his trials and successive triumphs. He was a businessman from the old school: courageous, discerning and undaunted. He didn’t wait for opportunities to present themselves to him, he created them. It was action, above all else, that defined him.
The Champalimaud Foundation reflects these same qualities. It does not seek praise for its intentions but respect for its actions. Serving as an instrument for change, particularly with regard to world health issues, the Foundation is devoted to supporting relevant biomedical research that increases the prosperity and well-being of humanity. It is a means of ensuring that people the world over are the beneficiaries of António Champalimaud’s munificence.
