The 20th anniversary of the Camillian Studies Centre was marked last Sunday, June 1, with a tribute to José Viale Moutinho and Álvaro Siza Vieira, for their significant contribution to the study, dissemination and preservation of the life and work of Camilo Castelo Branco. This public recognition, a symbolic gesture materialised in the award of the “Camilo’s feather”, takes place precisely in a year that also marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Portuguese novelist.

The “Camilo's feather” was awarded ex aequo (with the same merit) to these two personalities and presented by the Mayor of Vila Nova de Famalicão, Mário Passos.

"The example of Siza Vieira and José Viale Moutinho and Camilo's genius is the best link between the past and the present. The strongest testimony to the vitality of Camilo's work," emphasised the mayor.

At the reception, former journalist and writer José Viela Moutinho was visibly touched and grateful for the honour. With a literary and editorial career deeply marked by the figure and work of Camilo Castelo Branco - through conferences, articles and books - Viale Moutinho is the author of a vast production dedicated to the novelist, among which stands out, among countless other titles, the publication ‘Camilo Castelo Branco: Memórias Fotobiográficas (1825-1890)’ (Camilo Castelo Branco: Photobiographical Memories (1825-1890)), a work that deserved an honourable mention in the Grémio Literário de Lisboa Prize.

This dedication to the novelist was also marked by the donation of his Camillian estate to the Vila Nova de Famalicão Municipality, an important contribution to enriching the collection of the Casa de Camilo Library in São Miguel de Seide.

Álvaro Siza Vieira, the first Portuguese architect to receive the prestigious Pritzker Prize (1992), was responsible for the architectural design of the Camillian Studies Centre - a decisive work in the national and international projection of Camillian studies, inaugurated on 1 June 2005.