| Summary: | Amongst Portuguese career diplomats of the second half of the 20th century, few can compare, in terms of influence and public salience, with José Calvet de Magalhães. Under the democratic regime set up after 1974, Calvet was able to build for himself the reputation of being one of the ‘founding fathers’ of the Europeanist currents who, working discreetly inside the authoritarian state, made sure that Portugal took part in some of the critical stages of the European integration process. So successful was he in projecting this image that other facets that may add some complexity to his trajectory are usually neglected (his involvement in key late colonial dossiers). This article will address such apparent ambivalence and make sense of the ideas and praxis of someone who while trying to remain true to his own vision of Portugal’s national interest, had to serve an embattled regime that led the country to a diplomatic dead end since 1961.
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