People
Fernando Giesteira
Fernando Carvalho Giesteira
- Born
- 3 August 1955, Salto, Montalegre
- Died
- 25 April 1974, Rua António Maria Cardoso, Lisbon
An 18-year-old waiter from Trás-os-Montes, he was the youngest of the four civilians killed by DGS gunfire on Rua António Maria Cardoso, at the end of the day on 25 April 1974.
He was born in Salto, Montalegre, on 3 August 1955, the son of Amândio Gomes Giesteira and Emília de Carvalho. He grew up in Vreia de Jales, Vila Pouca de Aguiar, and in 1972 moved to Lisbon, where he worked nights as a waiter at the Cova da Onça nightclub.1
On 25 April 1974, after a night’s work, he is thought to have gone to join the crowds following the coup.1 At the end of the day he was among those demanding the surrender of the political police outside the DGS headquarters, on Rua António Maria Cardoso. The agents fired from the windows into the crowd; Fernando Giesteira was hit and died there, aged 18, the youngest of those killed that day.12 The identity of whoever fired is still unknown.1
He was buried in Vreia de Jales.2 In 1980, a group of citizens put up a plaque by the former headquarters with the names of the four dead, on which his appears as “Fernando C. Gesteira”.6
On the walks
Places
In the timeline
They crossed paths with him
Fernando Reis
1950–1974
A 23-year-old soldier on leave in Lisbon, he was one of the four people killed when the DGS fired on the crowd on Rua António Maria Cardoso, on the night of 25 April 1974.
João Arruda
1954–1974
A 20-year-old student from the Azores at the Lisbon Faculty of Letters, he was hit in the head by DGS gunfire at around 20:30 on 25 April 1974 and died at São José Hospital at 00:30 on 26 April.
José Barneto
1935–1974
A 38-year-old clerk and father of four, he was killed by DGS gunfire outside the headquarters of the political police, at the end of the day on 25 April 1974.
Silva Pais
1905–1981
Director of the political police, he warned Marcelo Caetano at 05:00 on 25 April that “the Revolution is out on the streets”. He only surrendered the DGS headquarters on the morning of the 26th, after the agents had killed four people on Rua António Maria Cardoso.
Conceição Matos
b. 1936
A communist activist arrested in 1965 and in 1968, she suffered at the PIDE headquarters some of the cruellest and most humiliating torture methods used on a woman, and never talked. Decades later, she spoke about it publicly to denounce the political police.
Helena Pato
b. 1939
A student leader in the 1962 academic crisis, she was arrested in 1967 and suffered long isolation, beatings and sleep torture in Caxias. She later led the Não Apaguem a Memória (Do Not Erase Memory) movement.
Notes on the sources2
- His age and home town: 18 and from Salto, Montalegre, according to the Aljube Museum and 7Margens, which matches the date of birth; 17 and from Vila Pouca de Aguiar, according to Esquerda.net (Memória Comum also says 17).
- His father’s name: Amândio Gomes Giesteira, according to the Aljube Museum; Armando Gomes Giesteira, according to 7Margens.
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Sources
- 1Fernando Carvalho Giesteira (biografia). Museu do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade — consulted on 2 October 2026
- 2Fernando Giesteira, o transmontano vítima da PIDE/DGS no dia 25 de Abril de 74. 7Margens — consulted on 2 October 2026
- 3Esta semana, e sempre, a rua lembra os quatro homens assassinados pela PIDE/DGS. Time Out Lisboa (1/4/2024) — consulted on 2 October 2026
- 4Os mortos pela PIDE em 25 de Abril. Esquerda.net — consulted on 2 October 2026
- 5Os que ficaram pelo caminho (lista, páginas 1 a 7). Memória Comum – Memorial aos Presos e Perseguidos Políticos — consulted on 2 October 2026
- 6Placa da ex-sede da PIDE: reposta mas em local escondido. Esquerda.net (29/12/2009) — consulted on 2 October 2026