António Lopes

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games (non-medal events)
SexMale
Full nameAntónio•Esteves Lopes
Used nameAntónio•Lopes
Born18 March 1900 in Lisboa, Distrito de Lisboa (POR)
Died25 April 1973
NOC Portugal

Biography

António Lopes studied at the Lisboa School of Art and then worked as a drawing teacher at the Escola Industrial Campos Melo in Covilhã, where he stayed for 30 years. In addition, he worked as a journalist as well as an illustrator and cartoonist for various newspapers.

As a photographer, Lopes portrayed the landscape of the Serra da Estrela, its people and cultural heritage. In the Estrela mountains, he also founded the Ski Club de Portugal. He also developed new patterns and colors for tapestries, founded the Serra da Estrela carpet factory in the late 1940s, and promoted the cultivation of linen and silk in the villages of the Beira Baixa region and the production of linen cloth. Through exhibitions, Lopes made this local craft known and promoted the economic development. One of his carpets was presented as a gift, for instance, to the then Emperor of Ethiopia.

As a painter, he created mural and ceiling paintings for churches and paintings of landscapes of the Serra da Estrela, its inhabitants and the personalities of the region. His watercolor Evening on the Estrela, exhibited in 1952, could not be identified, however. One of the driving forces in the Beira Baixa region, Lopes became known as “Lopes da Covilhã”, after the town on the edge of the Serra where he spent most of his life. Meanwhile, the Galeria Prof. António Lopes, named after him, was opened there.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1952 Summer Olympics Art Competitions POR António Lopes
Painting, Open (Olympic (non-medal)) AC