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{{Short description|Portuguese restaurant worker during the Carnation Revolution (1933–2024)}}
{{Short description|Portuguese restaurant worker during the Carnation Revolution (1933–2024)}}
{{Portuguese name|Martins|Caeiro}}
{{Portuguese name|Martins|Caeiro}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Celeste Caeiro
| name = Celeste Caeiro
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|11|15|1933|05|02|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|11|15|1933|05|02|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Leiria]], Portugal
| death_place = [[Leiria]], Portugal
| other_names =Celeste dos Cravos
| other_names = Celeste dos Cravos
| known_for = handing out flowers to soldiers during the [[Carnation Revolution]]
| known_for = handing out flowers to soldiers during the [[Carnation Revolution]]
| education =
| education =
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}}
}}


'''Celeste Martins Caeiro''' ({{IPA|pt|sɨˈlɛʃtɨ kaˈɐjɾu}}; 2 May 1933 – 15 November 2024), also known as '''Celeste dos Cravos''' ("Celeste of the carnations"), was a Portuguese pacifist and former restaurant worker. Her actions led to the naming of the 1974 coup as the [[Carnation Revolution]].<ref name="Avante">{{Cite journal |first=Isabel |last=Araújo Branco |date=2000 |title=25 DE ABRIL SEMPRE! - A flor que deu o nome à Revolução: "Um cravo oferece-se a qualquer pessoa" |journal=Avante! |issue=1378 |url=http://www.pcp.pt/avante/1378/7803m4.html |access-date=24 April 2013 |language=pt |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706003437/http://www.pcp.pt/avante/1378/7803m4.html# |archive-date=2013-07-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Celeste Martins Caeiro''' ({{IPA|pt|sɨˈlɛʃtɨ kaˈɐjɾu}}; 2 May 1933 – 15 November 2024), also known as '''Celeste dos Cravos''' ("Celeste of the carnations"), was a Portuguese pacifist and former restaurant worker. Her actions led to the naming of the 1974 coup as the [[Carnation Revolution]].<ref name=reuters /><ref name=nyt />


==Early life==
==Early life==
[[File:Banksy_@_Travessa_do_Judeu_(33513638076)_(2).jpg|left|thumb|A [[graffiti]] by [[Banksy]] in [[Lisbon]] featuring carnations.]]
[[File:Banksy_@_Travessa_do_Judeu_(33513638076)_(2).jpg|right|thumb|A [[graffiti]] mural attributed to [[Banksy]], with carnations fired from a mortar, alluding to 1974 Carnation Revolution, at 14 Travessa do Judeu, Lisbon, Portugal]]
Caeiro was born on 2 May 1933 in Lisbon.<ref name="diario">{{Cite news|title=Celeste e Guilhermina: a flor do acaso|url=https://www.dn.pt/6872466510/celeste-e-guilhermina-a-flor-do-acaso/|work=[[Diário de Notícias]]|date=28 July 2024|first=António|last=Araújo|language=pr}}</ref><ref name="rtve">{{Cite news|title=Fallece Celeste Caeiro, la mujer que dio nombre a la Revolución de los Claveles|url=https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20241115/fallece-celeste-caeiro-mujer-dio-nombre-a-revolucion-claveles/16333330.shtml|work=[[RTVE]]|date=15 November 2024}}</ref> Her mother, Teodora de Viana Martins Caeiro, was from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], northern Spain, and went to live first in [[Amareleja]] and then in Lisbon, while Celeste's father left the family when she was a child.<ref name=rtve /><ref name=diario />
Caeiro was born on 2 May 1933 in Lisbon.<ref name="diario">{{Cite news|title=Celeste e Guilhermina: a flor do acaso|url=https://www.dn.pt/6872466510/celeste-e-guilhermina-a-flor-do-acaso/|work=[[Diário de Notícias]]|date=28 July 2024|first=António|last=Araújo|language=pt}}</ref><ref name="rtve">{{Cite news|title=Fallece Celeste Caeiro, la mujer que dio nombre a la Revolución de los Claveles|url=https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20241115/fallece-celeste-caeiro-mujer-dio-nombre-a-revolucion-claveles/16333330.shtml|work=[[RTVE]]|date=15 November 2024}}</ref> Her mother, Teodora de Viana Martins Caeiro, was from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], northern Spain, and went to live first in [[Amareleja]] and then in Lisbon, while Celeste's father left the family when she was a child.<ref name=rtve /><ref name=diario />


When Caeiro was 18 months old, she was admitted to the Alto do Pina Day Centre and was regularly visited by her mother. At the age of 14 she was transferred to the Asilo 28 de Maio. At the age of 20, she started her pre-nursing studies at the Santa Clara de la Casa Fia College, but due to lung problems, she never practiced this profession.<ref name=diario />
When Caeiro was 18 months old, she was admitted to the Alto do Pina Day Centre and was regularly visited by her mother. At the age of 14 she was transferred to the Asilo 28 de Maio. At the age of 20, she started her pre-nursing studies at the Santa Clara de la Casa Pia College, but due to lung problems, she never practiced this profession.<ref name=diario />


As a teenager, during a holiday in the [[Alentejo]], she found out that clandestine meetings were being held at his uncles' house, and shortly afterwards, in Lisbon, Caeiro began her politicial militancy while working at the tobacco shop of the Café Patinhas, which was a left-wing meeting place and where she hid books banned by the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] regime.<ref name=diario /> She also became interested in politics when she attended trials at the Plenary Court.<ref name=sol />
As a teenager, during a holiday in the [[Alentejo]], she found out that clandestine meetings were being held at her uncles' house.<ref name=diario /><ref name=sapo1 /> Although Caeiro never participated directly in the resistance against the regime of the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]], she did mobilise clandestinely in favour of the left.<ref name=sapo1 />

In Lisbon, Caeiro worked at the tobacco shop of the Café Patinhas, which was a left-wing meeting place and where she hid books banned by the regime and participated in the smuggling of these books by hiding them in tobacco packets.<ref name=diario /><ref name=sapo1 /> She also became interested in politics when she attended the trial of an uncle who had been imprisoned for two years at the Plenary Court.<ref name=sol /><ref name=rtp /> Previously, she had worked in a shirt factory.<ref name=diario />


==1974 Carnation Revolution==
==1974 Carnation Revolution==
[[File:Franjinhas Teotónio Pereira 09900 1.jpg|right|thumb|Franjinhas Building on Rua Braamcamp]]
In 1974 Caeiro was working in a self-service restaurant in [[Lisbon]] called "Sir" located at Franjinhas Building on Rua Braamcamp.<ref>[https://www.timeout.pt/lisboa/pt/noticias/o-edificio-franjinhas-vai-ficar-de-cara-lavada-032120 O edifício Franjinhas vai ficar de cara lavada]</ref> The restaurant was opened on 25 April 1973 and for its first anniversary the owners planned to give out [[carnations]] to all its customers on 25 April 1974 but this had to be cancelled because of the coup, so the employees were asked to take them home.<ref name=publico /><ref name="Avante"/>


In 1974 Caeiro was working in a self-service restaurant in [[Lisbon]] called "Sir" located at Franjinhas Building on Rua Braamcamp as a cleaner.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.pt/lisboa/pt/noticias/o-edificio-franjinhas-vai-ficar-de-cara-lavada-032120|title=O edifício Franjinhas vai ficar de cara lavada|language=pt|website=[[Time Out Group|Time Out]]|date=21 March 2020|first=Renata|last=Lima Lobo}}</ref><ref name=diario /><ref name="rtp">{{Cite news|url=https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/estorias/os-cravos-vermelhos-simbolos-de-abril_n731000|title=Os cravos vermelhos, símbolos de Abril|work=RTP|date=21 April 2014|language=pt}}</ref> The restaurant was opened on 25 April 1973 and for its first anniversary, on 25 April 1974, the owners planned to give out red and white [[carnations]] to all its customers and which were bought in Ribeira square by the owner of the restaurant.<ref name=publico /><ref name="Avante">{{Cite journal |first=Isabel |last=Araújo Branco |date=2000 |title=25 DE ABRIL SEMPRE! – A flor que deu o nome à Revolução: "Um cravo oferece-se a qualquer pessoa" |journal=Avante! |issue=1378 |url=http://www.pcp.pt/avante/1378/7803m4.html |access-date=24 April 2013 |language=pt |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130706003437/http://www.pcp.pt/avante/1378/7803m4.html |archive-date=6 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=rtve /><ref name=sapo1 /> Caeiro had arrived at 9 a.m. without knowing that the military had already mobilised.<ref name=sapo1 /> The celebration had to be cancelled because of the coup, so the employees were asked to take the carnations home.<ref name=publico /><ref name="Avante"/><ref name=rtve />
⚫
Back home, Caeiro approached two soldiers to ask what was going on, to which one replied that they were going to arrest [[Marcelo Caetano]] and that a revolution had broken out.<ref name=publico /> The same man asked her for a cigarette, but as Caeiro did not smoke and in compensation for the "good news" he had given her, as she said shortly afterwards, she gave him a carnation from the bouquet she was carrying.<ref name=publico /> From then on, from [[Chiado]] to the [[Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs, Lisbon|Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs]] she gave the rest of the carnations to the soldiers and the tanks involved, and they placed the flowers in the muzzle of their guns.<ref name="Avante"/> The idea was copied and flower sellers donated more flowers to the mutinous soldiers.<ref name="holiday">{{Cite news|url=https://algarvedailynews.com/news/11517-why-april-25th-is-a-holiday-the-carnation-revolution-and-the-events-of-1974|title=Why April 25th is a holiday - the Carnation Revolution and the events of 1974|last=Association|first=Peter Booker, Algarve History|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en-gb}}</ref><ref name="reuters">{{Cite news|title=Portugal's 'Carnations Lady' who gave name to 1974 revolution dies at 91|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/portugals-carnations-lady-who-gave-name-1974-revolution-dies-91-2024-11-15/|work=[[Reuters]]|date=15 November 2024}}</ref> The pictures of the soldiers with carnations in their guns appeared on front pages all over the world and the coup became known globally as the Carnation Revolution ans signalled the transition from a military coup to a peacful and bloodless revolution.<ref name=reuters /><ref name=sol />


Back home, Caeiro took the [[Lisbon Metro]] to [[Rossio Station]] (Rossio square) where the tanks of the rebels awaited further orders.<ref name=rtve /> She approached two soldiers mounted on a [[Bravia Chaimite]] truck to ask what was going on, to which one replied that they were heading to Quartel do Carmo to arrest [[Prime Minister of Portugal|Prime Minister]] [[Marcelo Caetano]] and that a revolution had broken out.<ref name=publico /><ref name=rtve /><ref name=sapo1 /> The same man asked her for a cigarette, but as Caeiro did not smoke and in compensation for the "good news" he had given her, as she said shortly afterwards, she gave him a carnation from the bouquet she was carrying and he put it in the barrel of his gun.<ref name=publico /><ref name=sapo1 />
⚫
The following day, when Caeiro returned to work, radio journalists asked her where the idea of the carnations had come from. She gave the first interview to magazine ''Crónica Feminina''.<ref name="sapo1">{{Cite web|title=Celeste, a lisboeta que deu os cravos à revolução|url=https://ionline.sapo.pt/2019/04/25/celeste-a-lisboeta-que-deu-os-cravos-a-revolucao/?seccao=Portugal|date=25 April 2019|website=[[Sapo]]|language=pt|first=Marta|last=F. Reis}}</ref>
<ref name=diario /> Since then, every year, around 25 April, she was given time off work so that she could give interviews.<ref name=diario />


⚫
From then on, from [[Chiado]] to the [[Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs, Lisbon|Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs]] she gave the rest of the carnations to the soldiers involved, and they placed the flowers in the muzzle of their guns.<ref name="Avante"/> The idea was copied and flower sellers donated more flowers to the mutinous soldiers.<ref name="holiday">{{Cite news|url=https://algarvedailynews.com/news/11517-why-april-25th-is-a-holiday-the-carnation-revolution-and-the-events-of-1974|title=Why April 25th is a holiday – the Carnation Revolution and the events of 1974|last=Booker|first=Peter |work= Algarve History Association|access-date=29 December 2017|language=en-gb}}</ref><ref name="reuters">{{Cite news|title=Portugal's 'Carnations Lady' who gave name to 1974 revolution dies at 91|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/portugals-carnations-lady-who-gave-name-1974-revolution-dies-91-2024-11-15/|work=[[Reuters]]|first1=Andrei|last1=Khalip|first2=Patricia|last2=Rua|date=15 November 2024}}</ref> The pictures of the soldiers with carnations in their guns appeared on front pages all over the world and the coup became known globally as the Carnation Revolution and signalled the transition from a military coup to a peaceful and bloodless revolution.<ref name=reuters /><ref name=sol />
⚫
On 7 May 1974, journalist {{ill|António José Saraiva|pt}} wrote in the newspaper ''República'' that "the red carnation of Freedom has no known author, it was not proposed or programmed by any organisation. It is anonymous and natural like everything that is alive".<ref name=diario /><ref name=sol /> Later, {{ill|Artur Varatojo|pt}}, in ''Crónica Feminina'', described Celeste's gesture with a poem and as a symbol of freedom: "In a few days, the carnation became the symbolic flower of a country... The first hand that knew how to place it tenderly in the barrel of a rifle... It was a woman - if it is a woman - that someone has the right to an immortal statue."<ref name=diario /><ref name=sol /> Celeste's testimony is also well detailed in Ana Sofia Fonseca's book ''Capitãs de Abril''.<ref name=sol />


⚫
The following day, when Caeiro returned to work, radio journalists asked her where the idea of the carnations had come from. She gave the first interview to magazine ''Crónica Feminina''.<ref name="sapo1">{{Cite web|title=Celeste, a lisboeta que deu os cravos à revolução|url=https://ionline.sapo.pt/2019/04/25/celeste-a-lisboeta-que-deu-os-cravos-a-revolucao/?seccao=Portugal|date=25 April 2019|publisher=[[SAPO (company)|SAPO]]|language=pt|first=Marta|last=F. Reis}}</ref><ref name=diario /> Since then, every year, around 25 April, she was given time off work so that she could give interviews.<ref name=diario />
⚫
In 2024, she took part in the parade commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon alongside her daughter and granddaughter.<ref name=sol /><ref name=publico /> Celeste Caeiro's presence on Avenida da Liberdade was one of the most memorable moments of the popular celebration.<ref name= publico />

⚫
On 7 May 1974, journalist {{ill|António José Saraiva|pt}} wrote in the newspaper ''República'' that "the red carnation of Freedom has no known author, it was not proposed or programmed by any organisation. It is anonymous and natural like everything that is alive".<ref name=diario /><ref name=sol /> Later, {{ill|Artur Varatojo|pt}}, in ''Crónica Feminina'', described Celeste's gesture with a poem and as a symbol of freedom: "In a few days, the carnation became the symbolic flower of a country... The first hand that knew how to place it tenderly in the barrel of a rifle... It was a woman—if it is a woman—that someone has the right to an immortal statue."<ref name=diario /><ref name=sol /> Celeste's testimony is also well detailed in Ana Sofia Fonseca's book ''Capitãs de Abril''.<ref name=sol />

⚫
In 2024, she took part in the parade commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon alongside her daughter and granddaughter.<ref name=sol /><ref name=publico /> Celeste Caeiro's presence on Avenida da Liberdade was one of the most memorable moments of the popular celebration.<ref name= publico /> At the solemn session that day in the [[Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)|Assembly of the Republic]], the deputy [[Rui Tavares]] suggested that a statue of Caeiro be erected in the Assembly building.<ref name=sol />


==Personal life and death==
==Personal life and death==
Caeiro, while working at the Café Patinhas tobacconist's, met a man, with whom she moved in shortly afterwards and with whom she had a daughter. They never married. When her daughter was three years old, Caeiro separated from him and left home after suffering from domestic violence.<ref name=diario />
Caeiro, while working at the Café Patinhas tobacconist's, met a man, with whom she moved in shortly afterwards and with whom she had a daughter. They never married. When her daughter was three years old, Caeiro separated from him and left home after suffering from domestic violence.<ref name=diario />


On 25 August 1988, Caeiro lost all her belongings when the flat she had rented in the Armazéns do Chiado building was destroyed by a major fire in the area.<ref>[https://expresso.pt/sociedade/2018-08-25-A-Celeste-dos-Cravos-perdeu-o-Chiado-no-fogo A Celeste dos Cravos perdeu o Chiado no fogo] {{in lang|pt}}</ref> She lived on a pension of 370 euros in a small house a few metres from Avenida da Liberdade. In 2024, a public subscription was organised to enable Celeste to buy a hearing aid.<ref name=diario /><ref>[https://www.elperiodico.com/es/internacional/20160424/mujer-celeste-mujer-pequeno-gesto-dio-nombre-revolucion-claveles-5081401 Ella es Celeste Caeiro, la mujer que, con un pequeño gesto, dio nombre a la Revolución de los Claveles] {{in lang|es}}</ref>
On 25 August 1988, Caeiro lost all her belongings when the flat she had rented in the Armazéns do Chiado building was destroyed by a major fire in the area.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://expresso.pt/sociedade/2018-08-25-A-Celeste-dos-Cravos-perdeu-o-Chiado-no-fogo|title=A Celeste dos Cravos perdeu o Chiado no fogo|language=pt|date=25 August 2018|first=Raquel|last=Albuquerque|work= [[Expresso (newspaper)|Expresso]]}}</ref> She lived on a pension of 370 euros in a small house a few metres from Avenida da Liberdade.<ref name=sol /> In 2024, a public subscription was organised to enable Celeste to buy a hearing aid.<ref name=diario /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.elperiodico.com/es/internacional/20160424/mujer-celeste-mujer-pequeno-gesto-dio-nombre-revolucion-claveles-5081401|title=Ella es Celeste Caeiro, la mujer que, con un pequeño gesto, dio nombre a la Revolución de los Claveles|first=Helena|last=Poncini|date=24 April 2016|work=[[El Periódico de Catalunya]]|language=es}}</ref>


She was militant of the [[Portuguese Communist Party]].<ref name="sol">[https://sol.sapo.pt/2024/11/16/celeste-caeiro-a-mulher-que-ofereceu-flores-a-revolucao-e-deixou-um-legado-imortal/ Celeste Caeiro: a mulher que ofereceu flores à Revolução e deixou um legado imortal] {{in lang|pt}}</ref>
She was a member of the [[Portuguese Communist Party]].<ref name="sol">{{cite news|url=https://sol.sapo.pt/2024/11/16/celeste-caeiro-a-mulher-que-ofereceu-flores-a-revolucao-e-deixou-um-legado-imortal/|title=Celeste Caeiro: a mulher que ofereceu flores à Revolução e deixou um legado imortal|language=pt|date=16 November 2024|first=Maria|last=Moreira Rato|work=[[Sol (newspaper)|Sol]]}}</ref>


Caeiro died on the 15 November 2024, at the age of 91 at [[Leiria]] Hospital due to respiratory problems.<ref>[https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/portugal%27s-%27carnations-lady%27-who-gave-name-to-1974-revolution-dies-at-91/88169126 Portugal’s ‘Carnations Lady’ who gave name to 1974 revolution dies at 91] swissinfo</ref><ref name="publico">{{Cite news|title=Morreu Celeste Caeiro, a mulher que deu os cravos aos militares do 25 de Abril|url=https://www.publico.pt/2024/11/15/sociedade/noticia/morreu-celeste-caeiro-mulher-deu-cravos-militares-25-abril-2112039|date=15 November 2024|first=Marta Sofia|last=Ribeiro|work=[[Público (Portugal)|Público]]|language=pt}}</ref> Her death was mourned by [[Prime Minister of Portugal|Prime Minister]] [[Luís Montenegro]] who stated that "in this hour of mourning, I leave a word of recognition for Celeste Caeiro", and the [[President of Portugal|President]] [[Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa]] expressed his sadness and announced that she would be decorated posthumously, while the [[Portuguese Armed Forces|Armed Forces]] published a message saying that "Celeste Caeiro, with an apparently simple gesture, became the symbol of a movement that changed Portugal forever" and "her legacy will remain alive in history and in the memory of all of us".<ref>[https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/cultura/celeste-caeiro-exercito-portugues-diz-que-legado-permanecera-vivo-na-historia_n1615306 Celeste Caeiro. Exército Português diz que "legado permanecerá vivo na história"] {{in lang|pt}}</ref><ref>[https://www.dnoticias.pt/2024/11/15/427355-luis-montenegro-pcp-e-livre-lamentam-morte-de-celeste-caeiro/ Luís Montenegro, PCP e Livre lamentam morte de Celeste Caeiro] {{in lang|pt}}</ref>
Caeiro died on 15 November 2024, at the age of 91 at [[Leiria]] Hospital due to respiratory problems.<ref name="publico">{{Cite news|title=Morreu Celeste Caeiro, a mulher que deu os cravos aos militares do 25 de Abril|url=https://www.publico.pt/2024/11/15/sociedade/noticia/morreu-celeste-caeiro-mulher-deu-cravos-militares-25-abril-2112039|date=15 November 2024|first=Marta Sofia|last=Ribeiro|work=[[Público (Portugal)|Público]]|language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/portugal%27s-%27carnations-lady%27-who-gave-name-to-1974-revolution-dies-at-91/88169126|title=Portugal's 'Carnations Lady' who gave name to 1974 revolution dies at 91|date=15 November 2024|work=[[SWI swissinfo]]}}</ref><ref name=nyt>{{Cite news |first=Phil |last=Davison |date=17 November 2024 |title=Celeste Caeiro, Whose Flowers Gave a Name to a Revolt, Dies at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/world/europe/celeste-caeiro-dead.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref> Her death was mourned by Prime Minister [[Luís Montenegro]] who stated that "in this hour of mourning, I leave a word of recognition for Celeste Caeiro", and the [[President of Portugal|President]] [[Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa]] expressed his sadness and announced that she would be decorated posthumously, while the [[Portuguese Armed Forces|Armed Forces]] published a message saying that "Celeste Caeiro, with an apparently simple gesture, became the symbol of a movement that changed Portugal forever" and "her legacy will remain alive in history and in the memory of all of us".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/cultura/celeste-caeiro-exercito-portugues-diz-que-legado-permanecera-vivo-na-historia_n1615306|title=Celeste Caeiro. Exército Português diz que "legado permanecerá vivo na história"|language=pt|work=[[RTP1]]|date=16 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dnoticias.pt/2024/11/15/427355-luis-montenegro-pcp-e-livre-lamentam-morte-de-celeste-caeiro/|title=Luís Montenegro, PCP e Livre lamentam morte de Celeste Caeiro|language=pt|date=15 November 2024|work=[[Diário de Notícias (Madeira)]]}}</ref> Political parties including the Portuguese Communist Party and [[LIVRE]] also mourned her death.<ref name=sol /> The funeral took place 17 November in the church of São José da Anunciada in Lisbon, and she was later transferred to the crematorium in Alto de São João.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cmjornal.pt/sociedade/detalhe/ultimo-adeus-a-celeste-caeiro-a-mulher-que-criou-simbolo-da-revolucao|title=Último adeus a Celeste Caeiro, a mulher que criou símbolo da revolução|work=[[Correio da Manhã (Portugal)|Correio da Manhã]]|first=Edgar|last=Nascimento|date=18 November 2024|language=pt}}</ref>


==Honors==
==Honors==
*Medal of Honour of the City of Lisbon (2024)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Câmara Municipal de Lisboa lamenta a morte de Celeste Caeiro|url=https://informacao.lisboa.pt/noticias/detalhe/camara-municipal-de-lisboa-lamenta-a-morte-de-celeste-caeiro|date=15 November 2024|language=pt|website=Municipal Chamber of Lisbon}}</ref>
* Medal of Honour of the City of Lisbon (2024)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Câmara Municipal de Lisboa lamenta a morte de Celeste Caeiro|url=https://informacao.lisboa.pt/noticias/detalhe/camara-municipal-de-lisboa-lamenta-a-morte-de-celeste-caeiro|date=15 November 2024|language=pt|website=Municipal Chamber of Lisbon}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Flower Power (photograph)]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{IMDb name | 14514765}}
*{{IMDb name | 14514765}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
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[[Category:People of the Carnation Revolution]]
[[Category:People from Lisbon]]
[[Category:People from Lisbon]]
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[[Category:People of the Carnation Revolution]]
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[[Category:Portuguese democracy activists]]
[[Category:Portuguese pacifists]]
[[Category:Portuguese pacifists]]
[[Category:Portuguese people of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:Portuguese women activists]]
[[Category:Portuguese women activists]]
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[[Category:Portuguese democracy activists]]

Latest revision as of 10:35, 22 November 2024

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Martins and the second or paternal family name is Caeiro.

Celeste Caeiro
Born(1933-05-02)2 May 1933
Lisbon, Portugal
Died15 November 2024(2024-11-15) (aged 91)
Leiria, Portugal
Other namesCeleste dos Cravos
Known forhanding out flowers to soldiers during the Carnation Revolution

Celeste Martins Caeiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈlɛʃtɨ kaˈɐjɾu]; 2 May 1933 – 15 November 2024), also known as Celeste dos Cravos ("Celeste of the carnations"), was a Portuguese pacifist and former restaurant worker. Her actions led to the naming of the 1974 coup as the Carnation Revolution.[1][2]

Early life

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A graffiti mural attributed to Banksy, with carnations fired from a mortar, alluding to 1974 Carnation Revolution, at 14 Travessa do Judeu, Lisbon, Portugal

Caeiro was born on 2 May 1933 in Lisbon.[3][4] Her mother, Teodora de Viana Martins Caeiro, was from Galicia, northern Spain, and went to live first in Amareleja and then in Lisbon, while Celeste's father left the family when she was a child.[4][3]

When Caeiro was 18 months old, she was admitted to the Alto do Pina Day Centre and was regularly visited by her mother. At the age of 14 she was transferred to the Asilo 28 de Maio. At the age of 20, she started her pre-nursing studies at the Santa Clara de la Casa Pia College, but due to lung problems, she never practiced this profession.[3]

As a teenager, during a holiday in the Alentejo, she found out that clandestine meetings were being held at her uncles' house.[3][5] Although Caeiro never participated directly in the resistance against the regime of the Estado Novo, she did mobilise clandestinely in favour of the left.[5]

In Lisbon, Caeiro worked at the tobacco shop of the Café Patinhas, which was a left-wing meeting place and where she hid books banned by the regime and participated in the smuggling of these books by hiding them in tobacco packets.[3][5] She also became interested in politics when she attended the trial of an uncle who had been imprisoned for two years at the Plenary Court.[6][7] Previously, she had worked in a shirt factory.[3]

1974 Carnation Revolution

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Franjinhas Building on Rua Braamcamp

In 1974 Caeiro was working in a self-service restaurant in Lisbon called "Sir" located at Franjinhas Building on Rua Braamcamp as a cleaner.[8][3][7] The restaurant was opened on 25 April 1973 and for its first anniversary, on 25 April 1974, the owners planned to give out red and white carnations to all its customers and which were bought in Ribeira square by the owner of the restaurant.[9][10][4][5] Caeiro had arrived at 9 a.m. without knowing that the military had already mobilised.[5] The celebration had to be cancelled because of the coup, so the employees were asked to take the carnations home.[9][10][4]

Back home, Caeiro took the Lisbon Metro to Rossio Station (Rossio square) where the tanks of the rebels awaited further orders.[4] She approached two soldiers mounted on a Bravia Chaimite truck to ask what was going on, to which one replied that they were heading to Quartel do Carmo to arrest Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano and that a revolution had broken out.[9][4][5] The same man asked her for a cigarette, but as Caeiro did not smoke and in compensation for the "good news" he had given her, as she said shortly afterwards, she gave him a carnation from the bouquet she was carrying and he put it in the barrel of his gun.[9][5]

From then on, from Chiado to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs she gave the rest of the carnations to the soldiers involved, and they placed the flowers in the muzzle of their guns.[10] The idea was copied and flower sellers donated more flowers to the mutinous soldiers.[11][1] The pictures of the soldiers with carnations in their guns appeared on front pages all over the world and the coup became known globally as the Carnation Revolution and signalled the transition from a military coup to a peaceful and bloodless revolution.[1][6]

The following day, when Caeiro returned to work, radio journalists asked her where the idea of the carnations had come from. She gave the first interview to magazine Crónica Feminina.[5][3] Since then, every year, around 25 April, she was given time off work so that she could give interviews.[3]

On 7 May 1974, journalist António José Saraiva [pt] wrote in the newspaper República that "the red carnation of Freedom has no known author, it was not proposed or programmed by any organisation. It is anonymous and natural like everything that is alive".[3][6] Later, Artur Varatojo [pt], in Crónica Feminina, described Celeste's gesture with a poem and as a symbol of freedom: "In a few days, the carnation became the symbolic flower of a country... The first hand that knew how to place it tenderly in the barrel of a rifle... It was a woman—if it is a woman—that someone has the right to an immortal statue."[3][6] Celeste's testimony is also well detailed in Ana Sofia Fonseca's book Capitãs de Abril.[6]

In 2024, she took part in the parade commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon alongside her daughter and granddaughter.[6][9] Celeste Caeiro's presence on Avenida da Liberdade was one of the most memorable moments of the popular celebration.[9] At the solemn session that day in the Assembly of the Republic, the deputy Rui Tavares suggested that a statue of Caeiro be erected in the Assembly building.[6]

Personal life and death

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Caeiro, while working at the Café Patinhas tobacconist's, met a man, with whom she moved in shortly afterwards and with whom she had a daughter. They never married. When her daughter was three years old, Caeiro separated from him and left home after suffering from domestic violence.[3]

On 25 August 1988, Caeiro lost all her belongings when the flat she had rented in the Armazéns do Chiado building was destroyed by a major fire in the area.[12] She lived on a pension of 370 euros in a small house a few metres from Avenida da Liberdade.[6] In 2024, a public subscription was organised to enable Celeste to buy a hearing aid.[3][13]

She was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party.[6]

Caeiro died on 15 November 2024, at the age of 91 at Leiria Hospital due to respiratory problems.[9][14][2] Her death was mourned by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro who stated that "in this hour of mourning, I leave a word of recognition for Celeste Caeiro", and the President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his sadness and announced that she would be decorated posthumously, while the Armed Forces published a message saying that "Celeste Caeiro, with an apparently simple gesture, became the symbol of a movement that changed Portugal forever" and "her legacy will remain alive in history and in the memory of all of us".[15][16] Political parties including the Portuguese Communist Party and LIVRE also mourned her death.[6] The funeral took place 17 November in the church of São José da Anunciada in Lisbon, and she was later transferred to the crematorium in Alto de São João.[17]

Honors

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  • Medal of Honour of the City of Lisbon (2024)[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Khalip, Andrei; Rua, Patricia (15 November 2024). "Portugal's 'Carnations Lady' who gave name to 1974 revolution dies at 91". Reuters.
  2. ^ a b Davison, Phil (17 November 2024). "Celeste Caeiro, Whose Flowers Gave a Name to a Revolt, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Araújo, António (28 July 2024). "Celeste e Guilhermina: a flor do acaso". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese).
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Fallece Celeste Caeiro, la mujer que dio nombre a la Revolución de los Claveles". RTVE. 15 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h F. Reis, Marta (25 April 2019). "Celeste, a lisboeta que deu os cravos à revolução" (in Portuguese). SAPO.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Moreira Rato, Maria (16 November 2024). "Celeste Caeiro: a mulher que ofereceu flores à Revolução e deixou um legado imortal". Sol (in Portuguese).
  7. ^ a b "Os cravos vermelhos, símbolos de Abril". RTP (in Portuguese). 21 April 2014.
  8. ^ Lima Lobo, Renata (21 March 2020). "O edifício Franjinhas vai ficar de cara lavada". Time Out (in Portuguese).
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Ribeiro, Marta Sofia (15 November 2024). "Morreu Celeste Caeiro, a mulher que deu os cravos aos militares do 25 de Abril". Público (in Portuguese).
  10. ^ a b c Araújo Branco, Isabel (2000). "25 DE ABRIL SEMPRE! – A flor que deu o nome à Revolução: "Um cravo oferece-se a qualquer pessoa"". Avante! (in Portuguese) (1378). Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  11. ^ Booker, Peter. "Why April 25th is a holiday – the Carnation Revolution and the events of 1974". Algarve History Association. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  12. ^ Albuquerque, Raquel (25 August 2018). "A Celeste dos Cravos perdeu o Chiado no fogo". Expresso (in Portuguese).
  13. ^ Poncini, Helena (24 April 2016). "Ella es Celeste Caeiro, la mujer que, con un pequeño gesto, dio nombre a la Revolución de los Claveles". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish).
  14. ^ "Portugal's 'Carnations Lady' who gave name to 1974 revolution dies at 91". SWI swissinfo. 15 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Celeste Caeiro. Exército Português diz que "legado permanecerá vivo na história"". RTP1 (in Portuguese). 16 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Luís Montenegro, PCP e Livre lamentam morte de Celeste Caeiro". Diário de Notícias (Madeira) (in Portuguese). 15 November 2024.
  17. ^ Nascimento, Edgar (18 November 2024). "Último adeus a Celeste Caeiro, a mulher que criou símbolo da revolução". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese).
  18. ^ "Câmara Municipal de Lisboa lamenta a morte de Celeste Caeiro". Municipal Chamber of Lisbon (in Portuguese). 15 November 2024.
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