Editorial data

In June, 1925, A Batalha’s editorial board decided to start a new publication, after having encouraged the Confederação Geral do Trabalho (CGT) to sponsor the creation of the Suplemento, in December, 1923. Notwithstanding the biweekly publication’s commercial success, readers demanded graphic improvements, namely clearer illustrations and better printing paper. A Batalha’s editorial section replied that the magazine’s selling price of 50 centavos was too low to allow flat printing and an improvement of paper quality. Raising this price could also be detrimental to the ongoing propaganda effort, by antagonizing a large part of its audience. Notwithstanding, the importance given to the artistic collaboration, that was suffering under the Suplemento’s financial limitations, spurred the creation of a new editorial project with which those faults could be corrected.

As such, to meet with the expectations of a few unsatisfied readers, the plan to publish a biweekly magazine of art, literature, and current affairs, with the title Renovação, was devised. However, the editorial section faced the suspicions of the Confederal Council with regard to the orientation of both CGT press organs: in addition to rejecting A Batalha’s ambiguous attitude toward José Domingues dos Santos’s government, it was also harshly critical of Suplemento’s propaganda efforts. At the centre of the controversy was Manuel da Silva Campos, who stood as CGT secretary-general and director of confederal press. The Confederal Council, meeting at the end of June, accepted Almeida Marque’s motion to immediately suspend the magazine’s publication until Aleixo de Oliveira, A Batalha’s administrator, presented a report on the matter.

However, Renovação’s first issue was published on July 2nd, against the council’s decision. This initiative revealed the growing autonomy of the editorial staff led by António Pinto Quartim. To serve as the magazine’s formal director, metal-worker Manuel Gonçalves Vidal, a militant close to the secretary-general, was chosen; he would only hold this post, however, for the first two issues. José da Silva Santos Arranha took over starting with issue nr. 3, as well as being responsible for coordinating all CGT press. The role of editor was taken by construction worker Alexandre de Assis, an old prison acquaintance of Quartim, from Limoeiro, in 1913. This proximity could explain why he stayed on for the duration of Renovação, a continuity that was an outlier in comparison to other periodicals published by the anarcho-syndicalist confederation.

The magazine of new social horizons was published uninterruptedly until 15th June 1926, when the 24th and last issue appeared. It was put on sale on the 1st and 15th of each month, with the price of 1$50. Featuring three-colour covers, Renovação boasted a rich graphic collaboration, illustrating the 16 pages of articles on social literature or artistic and scientific current affairs. Because of graphic quality demands, impossible to achieve with rotary printing, printing was outsourced to Imprensa Beleza, located on Rua da Rosa. The editorial office and administration was located not far off, at the old Marim-Olhão palace, on the 2nd floor of Calçada do Combro 38-A, where all necessary typographical adjustments were also carried out.

As far as we know, Renovação was a commercial success, possibly by inviting illustrators and authors who were usually not part of anarchist circles, such as Rocha Martins, founder of ABC. The relationship between both magazines was probably very close, given the important collaboration of Ferreira de Castro, Mário Domingues, Stuart Carvalhais, Rocha Vieira, and Roberto Nobre for the two publications. This was one of the reasons that led the newspaper O Anarquista to start a violent campaign against the ‘professional journalists’ who had taken residence in the offices of A Batalha and its two magazines, while questioning the ideological orientation of Renovação’s collaborators. The young unionists claimed that the periodical’s propaganda work was being ignored, that the editorial staff was taking advantage of the scarce resources and efforts of confederate militants, and that magazine subscriptions only served to feed a ‘crowd of gluttons’. Naturally, the organ of the União Anarquista Portuguesa was happy to see the magazine disappear in mid-June.

With the end of publication, Renovação earned A Batalha’s administration an important 6444$65 profit. At the beginning of July, the newspaper informed readers of a temporary suspension owing to editorial and graphic renovations. The rift between CGT and A Batalha’s editorial and administrative staff, however, prevented resuscitating the periodical. That same month, Quartim, the magazine’s main enthusiast, left the staff, after reacting to O Anarquista’s allegations, and in August Arranha was removed from the direction of CGT’s periodicals. During the internal reorganization period that followed, no space remained for a publication associated with ‘arranhismo’, so the only thing left was to recuperate, cleanse, and prepare both the newspaper and the Suplemento for the difficult times ahead.

António Baião