FROM AN ISLAND TO ANOTHER

Born in São Miguel, Azores, José Luis da Silva Raposo Jácome (his original name) immigrated to Canada with his mother, his brother Manuel Carlos and his sister Terezinha in 1958. He was 8 years old. His father had left the Azores aboard the Homeland in 1954. He was part of the first big wave of Portuguese immigration to Canada that started in 1953.

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The family settled in Montreal in a French neighbourhood, far from the Saint-Louis area, the centre of the Portuguese community. He completed technical and university studies. He held several senior positions at Pratt & Whitney Canada such as Public Affairs Manager and Executive Assistant to the President and at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association. He was General Manager and President of the Quebec division.

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Since the death of his parents in 1987, he devoted a lot of time to reconnect with his Azorean roots. His research culminated with the publication in May 2018, 60 years after he had left São Miguel, of a book D’UNE ILE A L’AUTRE, fragments de mémoire. The book, currently available in French and Portuguese, is about the immigration story of its family but also about the first big wave of Portuguese immigration to Canada of the 1950s. He describes the social and economic context in which this major event took place.  The book is a tribute to the many Azoreans that undertook this bold step in the 1950s.

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Retired, he currently works as a coach and is very active volunteer member of the M Network in Montreal and the Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO). He has completed many volunteer assignments in third world countries for the latter.