JacksonCazaly4 at 21:31, 3 January 2026

2026-01-03T21:31:45Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter and journalist (1925–1978)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Evágrio Jorge
| image = Evágrio Jorge.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Portrait of Jorge
| birth_name = Evágrio Fransisco Jorge
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|3|6|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1978|8|20|1925|3|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Carmona, Goa|Carmona]], [[Salcete]], [[Portuguese Goa]]
| death_place = [[Panaji]], [[Goa]], [[India]]
| other_names =
| spouse = Margarida Jorge
| children = 2
| occupation =
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| awards = Tamrapatra Award (1972)
}}
'''Evágrio Fransisco Jorge''' (6 March 1925 – 20 August 1978) was an Indian freedom fighter and journalist.<ref name="ShirodkarWho86">{{Cite book |last=Shirodkar |first=Pandurang Purushottam |author-link=Pandurang Purushottam Shirodkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISScyAEACAAJ |title=Who's Who of Freedom Fighters, Goa, Daman, and Diu |date=1986 |publisher=Goa Gazetteer Department, Government of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu |volume=1 |pages=137–138}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Evágrio Fransisco Jorge was born on 6 March 1925 in [[Carmona, Goa|Carmona]], [[Salcete taluka|Salcete]], [[Portuguese Goa]], to Tito Manuel Jorge and Moi Sinha Rodrigues. He completed his 7th year of [[Lyceum]] education.<ref name="AmritMahotsav">{{Cite web |title=Evagrio Fransisco Jorge |url=https://amritmahotsav.nic.in/unsung-heroes-detail.htm?11169 |access-date=10 Sep 2024 |website=Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav}}</ref>

== Goa liberation movement ==
When [[Ram Manohar Lohia]] visited Goa in June 1946, Jorge visited Lohia at the home of [[Julião Menezes]] and published the news of Lohia's arrival on the ''[[O Heraldo]]'' newspaper on 12 June. This triggered the civil disobedience movement that is today known as [[Goa Revolution Day]].<ref name="FaleiroGoa1961">{{Cite book |last=Faleiro |first=Valmiki |author-link=Valmiki Faleiro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYLyEAAAQBAJ |title=Goa, 1961: The Complete Story of Nationalism and Integration |date=2023-07-24 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5708-175-7 |pages=17–21, 81 |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref> Later, Jorge went to visit Lohia in [[Bombay]], accompanied by [[Purushottam Kakodkar]]. While there, they got to know that the then [[Prime Minister of India]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], was passing through the city. They thus met him and requested him for Goa's freedom. They then received encouragement from Nehru.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mendes |first=Sushila Sawant |date=2006 |title=Jawaharlal Nehru and the Liberation Struggle of Goa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44147974 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=67 |pages=549–555 |jstor=44147974 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref>

In the 1940s, Jorge led a political party, ''Liga Regional'' (the Regional League).<ref name="MenezesSpices16">{{Cite journal |last=Menezes |first=Dale L. |title=Christians and Spices: A Critical Reflection on Indian Nationalist Discourses in Portuguese India |url=https://www.academia.edu/33361854 |journal=Práticas da História |year=2016 |number=3 |pages=29–50}}</ref> He was also one of founders of the National Congress (Goa) (NCG).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jorge |first=Evagrio |date=1983 |title=Preparations for Satyagraha |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40872596 |journal=Journal of South Asian Literature |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=255–257 |jstor=40872596 |issn=0091-5637}}</ref> He was elected as its Joint Secretary at the first meeting, held in [[Londa, Karnataka]] on 18 August 1946. On 7 November 1946, he was arrested after he offered ''[[satyagraha]]'' at Cuncolim. He was released after being imprisoned and tortured for 45 days. After his release, he was given the responsibility of the [[Belgaum]] and [[Khanapur]] ''satyagraha'' camps of the NCG.<ref name="ShirodkarWho86" />

On 15 August 1947, he was arrested again to prevent him from organizing any protests on that day. His house was then raided and nationalist literature was seized. Following this, he was put on trial by the TMT for the publishing and distribution of anti-[[Portuguese government|Portuguese]] flyers and articles. He was then sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment, along with having his political rights suspended for 15 years.<ref name="ShirodkarWho86" />

In June 1957, he was part of a delegation of 11 Goans chosen for consultation by Prime Minister Nehru. Others included [[Armando Menezes]] and his brother [[Nicolau Menezes]], along with Luis Gracias, [[J. N. Heredia]], [[Gerald Pereira]], [[Vishwanath Lawande]], [[Pundalik Gaitonde]], [[Rama Hegde]], [[Peter Alvares]] and [[Purushottam Kakodkar]].<ref name="FaleiroGoa1961" /><ref>{{Cite news |work=[[Times of India]] |location=Delhi |title=Goan Nationals Allowed To Send Money Home |date=1957-06-11 |url=https://archive.org/details/goan-nationals-allowed-to-send-money-home |access-date=2024-09-11}}</ref>

== Career ==
As a writer and journalist, between 1942 and 1961, Jorge published about 16 flyers and books against the Portuguese government. In the 1940s, he worked for ''[[oHeraldo]]''.<ref name="FaleiroGoa1961" /> Following his release from jail in the early 1950s, Jorge moved to [[Bombay]] and began contributing to [[T. B. Cunha]]'s [[Konkani language|Konkani]] periodical, ''Azad Goem'' ({{Translation|''Free Goa''}}). In 1955, he joined the [[All India Radio]] (AIR) for Konkani and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. After resigning from AIR in 1970, he began editing and contributing to the Konkani daily newspaper, ''Uzvadd''.<ref name="ShirodkarWho86" /> He later founded the ''Novem Uzvadd''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=11rRjnzhJQIC |title=Behind the News: Voices from Goa's Press |date=2008 |publisher=Goa1556 |isbn=978-81-905682-0-3 |chapter=Goan journalism: Views from near and far |first=Eugene |last=Correia}}</ref>

== Death ==
Jorge was killed in a freak accident in [[Panaji]] on 20 August 1978 when a bus lost control and killed him and [[Mark Fernandes]]. Jorge was a member of the [[Congress (I)]] at the time of his death.<ref name="ToIDeath">{{Cite web |last=Panchal |first=Chinu |date=Sep 30, 1978 |title=Buses run amok in Goa, two prominent Goan leaders latest victims |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19780930-buses-run-amok-in-goa-two-prominent-goan-leaders-latest-victims-823041-2014-04-28 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=India Today}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Jorge was married to Margarida and had two children, Subhas and Vijayalakshmi.<ref name="AmritMahotsav" />

== Views ==
In his 1942 pamphlet, ''A Reforma do Vestuário'', Jorge promoted ''[[khadi]]'' cloth. He lamented that both Hindus and Christians in Goa, under the Portuguese rule, wore "Western" clothes manufactured outside of India. He stated that the [[Catholic Church]] in Goa was used by the Portuguese to impose "Western (occidentals) dressing and customs". Urging Hindus to turn back to their culture, he said,<ref name="MenezesSpices16" />

{{Blockquote|To the Hindus of Goa who, perhaps carried by a supposed superiority [of the European], leave the ancestral habits of their land and adopt those of the foreigners, as there is no greater inferiority than to accept all that is imposed on us, without the slightest reflection and criticism! Also there is no reason to be ashamed of the dress and the traditions of the country, which are admired all over the world.}}

== Awards and accolades ==
In 1972, Jorge was awarded the Tamrapatra Award for freedom fighters by the [[Government of India]]. In 1984, he was posthumously honoured by the [[Government of Goa|Government of Goa, Daman and Diu]].<ref name="ShirodkarWho86" />

== Works ==

Some of Jorge's works include:<ref name="AmritMahotsav" />

* ''A Reform do Vestuario'' (1942)
* ''Uma decisso judicial'' (1943)
* ''Vestuario and Santos ou Arruaceiros'' (1944)
* ''Porque Ofereco Satyagraha'' (1946)
* ''Portugezanchem Raj Mhollear Goenkaranchem Nisantonn'' (1947)
* ''Goenchea Jivitacho Asro'' (1954)
* ''Salazar Ani Goem''
* ''Goenche Utthau Ani Bonddam'' (1956)
* ''Nehru Ani Goemand Lokmanya Tilak'' (1957)
* ''Katolk Igorz Goench Sodvonnechi Chollvoll'' (1957)
* ''Salazar’s rule in Portuguese and Goa Case'' (1959)
* ''The Goa Case'' (1961)
* ''Goemkarachem Desbhoxttepon'' (T B Cunha-chea pustoka onkar) (1961)
* ''Os Bhrahamanes'' (1969)
* ''Eka monxachem noxib'' (Solokov-achi novol kanni) (1968)
* ''Nillea Dollean-chi Ostori'' (1969)
* ''Karykha'' (Mikhali Alexeyev - chi novol kanni) (1974)
* ''Ojeapam''
* ''Vizmitam Nuvem Gavant'' (1974)
* ''Goa’s Awakening – Reminiscence of the 1946 Civil Disobedience Movement''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorge, Evágrio}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Journalists from Goa]]
[[Category:Goa liberation activists]]
[[Category:People from Portuguese India]]

Evágrio Jorge - Revision history

JacksonCazaly4 at 21:31, 3 January 2026