Av. José Manuel de Mello. Where CUF closes on July 24th, a tribute from the city is born

And so a new avenue was born in Lisbon, Av. José Manuel de Mello. "One of the most influential figures in Portuguese business history, he left a lasting legacy that profoundly marked the country's economic and social development and whose memory, after his death in 2009, remains alive in the institutions he founded and in the values ​​he transmitted. His career is a shining example of how perseverance, strategic lucidity and a sense of mission can transform adversity into inspiration for future generations."

The complimentary description is included in the CML document, to which SAPO had access, and which formalizes the city of Lisbon's tribute to José Manuel de Mello (1927-2009), founder of the José de Mello group, giving his name to the section of 24 de Julho where the CUF Tejo Hospital was founded.

The proposal, already approved by the city's Municipal Toponymy Commission, was published in a public consultation notice issued by Lisbon City Council on 22 May and declared the intention to "give the name José Manuel de Mello to the section of Avenida 24 de Julho, between Rua de Cascas and Rua João de Oliveira Miguéns (to the West) and the beginning of Avenida da Índia (to the East)". Yesterday, the approval of the proposal from Diogo Moura's office was guaranteed by the Novos Tempos (AD) coalition and the PS, and has also received the green light from the Estrela Parish Council. The PCP, BE, Livre and CPL voted against it.

In the proposal to create Av. José Manuel de Mello, to which SAPO had access, we recall the businessman's unique career as a visionary professional, whose most expressive impulse is seen in the CUF healthcare group or in the innovation that Brisa has represented since its origins, and as a person, being described as the grandson who most resembled the great Portuguese industrialist Alfredo da Silva, the nonconformist who always sought to break with impositions to bring more wealth and development to the country.

"On a personal level, José Manuel de Mello stood out for his reserved character and dedication to culture and philanthropy, a humanist dimension expressed in the Amélia de Mello Foundation, created in honour of his mother and through which the Mello family continues to support causes linked to education, culture, health, entrepreneurship, industry and innovation and social innovation, continuing a legacy sustained by a vision that has always sought to combine business success with a positive and lasting impact on society", reads the document.

Posthumously awarded (in addition to the various official distinctions he received during his lifetime) by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, for his legacy as a "performer of concrete social works for concrete people", José de Mello was always a man ahead of his time. As the heartfelt testimonies published at the time of his death recalled, the businessman was one of the voices encouraging the transition of the regime, before the revolution. "It was obvious when he voted against the re-election of Américo Tomás in 1972, seeking to support an alternative candidacy", João Salgueiro recalled to Público at the time - even though it was in this post-revolutionary period that he experienced one of the most challenging periods, with the nationalization of the group.

Upon his return to Portugal, however, José de Mello demonstrated all his resilience and vision, he recalls, "transforming this adversity into an opportunity for renewal that culminated, in 1989, in the founding of the holding company José de Mello, SGPS, which quickly consolidated itself as one of the largest business conglomerates in Portugal, with a prominent presence in the health, infrastructure and energy sectors". With these innovative investments, the businessman "revolutionised the provision of medical care in Portugal by offering an excellent alternative to the public system", with the CUF network, which to this day embodies the founder's understanding of this area as "a social and not merely a business responsibility", balancing "business strategy and civic mission", something that has always guided his way of leading.

From healthcare — with the network opened by the CUF Infante Santo Hospital on 10 June 1945, intended primarily, but not exclusively, for employees of Companhia União Fabril and their families, and always growing to "provide more healthcare services to the Portuguese people", a movement exemplified by the new CUF Tejo, opened on 28 September 2020 on the artery that now bears the founder's name thanks to an investment of over 170 million euros — to infrastructure, José de Mello's career is marked by his role in the development of Portugal, notably with Brisa, "one of the country's main motorway concessionaires, which played a decisive role in the modernisation of the national road network, with its strategic vision and unique execution capacity enabling not only the significant expansion of this sector, but also the consolidation of Brisa's position on the international scene".

While those who support the city's tribute to the Portuguese businessman are full of praise, the truth is that José Manuel de Mello seems to have been, due to his career and personality, a figure of almost unanimous admiration in the national panorama. His life is not only marked by his streak of social responsibility at a time when it was not discussed, but also by the countless initiatives he took to promote improvements for the country, both at home and abroad, the calls he led to create critical mass and business muscle capable of competing internationally, his desire to make the country shine in a context in which Portugal was already integrated into the European framework, and his desire to involve the business class in the "increasingly necessary fundamental reforms"—a topic very much on the agenda.

Now, in addition to the praise he received in life and death, José Manuel de Mello's name will be immortalized on an avenue, in an initiative by the city that received the most from him, precisely where a key point of his legacy materializes: CUF Tejo.