Start Here

Roy Eric Xavier, Ph.D.

Director, Portuguese and Macanese* Studies Project

Visiting Scholar, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues

University of California, Berkeley

E-mail: [email protected]

Los Angeles, California, USA

* Macanese refers to a self-referential term used by Portuguese with ancestral roots in Macau, as distinct from Portuguese with ties to Europe. The use of the term “Portuguese-Macanese” throughout this site blends the old British identification of the “Portuguese” in Hong Kong with the internal recognition of Portuguese as “Macanese”, that is, as Portuguese from Macau. Click here for information on the historical development of Macanese culture.

Research Partners

U.C. Berkeley – Institute for the Study of Societal Issues  (Dr. Xavier is a visiting scholar)

U.C. Berkeley – Bancroft Library – R.O.H.O. – Portuguese in California Project

Uniao Macaense Americana, Inc. - a non-profit corporation -  Casa de Macau, China SAR

Old China Hands Archive, Jorge Forjaz Collection, California State University Northridge

Why am I studying the Portuguese-Macanese Community ?

My reasons are both professional and personal:

1)      To understand the roles that Portuguese-Macanese people played in the development of Hong Kong and other regions of southeast Asia, including the community’s origins in Macau and its migration to other countries after World War II;

2)      To piece together the stories of community members, past and present, including many of my own family, whose biographies were witness to the expansion of trade with China, colonial development, and the beginnings of “Credit Finance” on a global scale.

And, equally important:

3)      To use this web site and other social media tools to involve those in the present who are interested in understanding, contributing to, and preserving Portuguese-Macanese cultural history.

Like many people who share these interests, I’m struck by the irony of creating a web site, even with the resources of the Internet, when so little authorative information about this community is available. In fact, Portuguese-Macanese history may be one of the best kept secrets of the colonial period.

Page 1 of 3 | Next page