Former Portuguese President visits King's

On Friday 14 November 2014 the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies welcomed former President of Portugal, His Excellency Dr Jorge Sampaio, to a meeting with staff and students, two days after receiving the award of an honorary degree from the College. 

Dr Sampaio, accompanied by His Excellency, João de Vallera, Portuguese Ambassador to the UK, spoke about his previous role as UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations and, in the Q&A session that followed, responded to numerous questions from students about his work for the UN and about Portuguese current affairs more generally. 

King’s has been a centre for the study of Portuguese language, history and culture since the 1860s and its Camoens Chair is the oldest in the UK, dating back to 1919.