The Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra deeply regrets the death of Paulo Varela Gomes, critic, professor, art and architecture historian and former researcher of this centre.

Paulo Varela Gomes was one of the most significant contemporary Portuguese authors and art historians; his contributions in the field of architecture, both as a historian and as a critic and disseminator were outstanding.

His highly original research, connected, namely, to his relationship with the Orient, particularly with Goa, where he worked for several years, has proved to be seminal in many respects and has been a source of inspiration for several lines of research conducted at CES. His intellectual legacy is of inestimable value and will continue to leave its stamp in the world of Portuguese historiography.

The death of Paulo Varela Gomes deprives us of a colleague of enormous intelligence, infinite generosity and constant engagement in a pursuit of knowledge far from all orthodoxies. The example of a life defined by the radical humanism that has also marked a path of tenacious struggle as a political activist will remain.