The Cego do Maio and the tragic-maritime history at Póvoa de Varzim Museum

When the stormy waves of the Poveiro sea advised caution, the “Cego do Maio” stood up to them to save lives. Póvoa de Varzim’s greatest hero is honoured at the Municipal Museum, 200 years after his birth.   Whoever takes a late afternoon stroll along Póvoa de Varzim’s Joyful Promenade should not be deceived. The beautiful sea, which is tinged with citrus tones at sunset, has been the stage for centuries of stories of pain and mourning.

The tragic-maritime history of Póvoa de Varzim is a never-ending story. Hundreds of fishermen lost their lives in the sea that was supposed to provide them with a livelihood and continues to exact its toll.

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There, often with the coast and salvation just an embrace away, many men have lost their lives in an unequal fight against nature. But there are always those who put aside personal safety and turn their faces to the fight to save those in trouble.

The Cego do Maio is the greatest hero of the people of Póvoa de Varzim. Born in 1817, this man who was one of the “humblest among the humble” performed more than 80 rescues throughout his life.

Whenever he was at sea and there were fishermen in trouble, he would turn the bow of his catraya and by force of oars would try to prevent the sea from taking human lives.

“The Blind Man of the May began his rescues in a totally voluntary way, because he was an extraordinary fisherman and a fearless man and, therefore, he is – for us, people of the martyr community – he is the great reference of this spirit of abnegation and courage of being available to help his neighbour.”

Admiral Silva Pereira, head of the General Staff of the Navy, has no doubts in affirming – in statements to our blog – the “greatest example” of the Blind Man of the May.

Admiral Silva Pereira, head of the General Staff of the Navy, has no doubts in affirming – in statements to our blog – the “greatest example” of the Blind Man of the May.

“And that is why he is a reference: for being such a humble person and so relevant at the same time. He touches the extremes of humility, on the one hand, and of competence, of abnegation, of the spirit of sacrifice to save others by asking nothing in return.”

“This is what is extraordinary about the Blind Man of May. He saved others without asking for anything in return. He wasn’t even a civil servant, having been one only towards the end of his life. It is this spirit that we want to give life to today, so that it may serve as an example to those in the Navy, or in other organisations, who have the responsibility to save and help those who are at sea.

José Rodrigues Maio, the Cego do Maio, lived all his life as a fisherman. Only in recent years, he decided to abandon the toil to devote himself to what made him famous and integrate the crew of the first lifeboat that, in the 60s of the 19th century, arrived in Póvoa de Varzim.

The great slender-line lifeboat is now the largest piece in the Municipal Museum’s room about tragic-maritime history. “The fishing community of Póvoa de Varzim was, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the largest in the centre and north of Portugal and what we seek here is to preserve the memory of this community from which we inherited many of our cultural traits, which are distinctive elements. It is not by chance that we use the boat and the poveira jumper as icons. These are elements that come from the fishing heritage of Poenteira”, says Maria de Jesus Rodrigues, senior technician of the Museum.

In the County Museum, this heritage is transmitted by remembering the fishing gear, the distinctive signs that the fishermen used to put on their gear, the various types of traditional boats that went to sea and also those who distinguished themselves for their spirit of self-sacrifice.

The Cego do Maio is the greatest figure, even “because of his personality and because he was mythologized during the 20th century”. Throughout the last century, “he was our Eiffel Tower, he was the souvenir one took from Póvoa”.

And if there were other heroes that didn’t hesitate to risk their lives to save the lives of others, “like the boss of Goa or the boss Sérgio, lifeguard bosses that succeeded the Blind Man of Maio”, these were already framed in rescue structures.

The “Cego do Maio” (Blind Man of May) – who got his nickname because of a small defect in one of his eyes – was a unique figure and so remarkable in the life and history of Póvoa’s people that his bust still watches the ocean in a statue that was erected by public subscription.

The first lifeboat that arrived in Póvoa de Varzim in 1864 had the name of the benefactor that gave it to Póvoa de Varzim, Mozer, but it was later renamed Blind Man of May, nomenclature that lasted in all the new lifeboats that were delivered to the port of Póvoa de Varzim. The first lifeboat was in service for over 60 years and can now be seen in the County Museum.

This humble hero marked not only the people of the seaside Poveiro, but the whole community. Even today, it is his portrait that is present in the meetings of the local Town Council. “Whenever someone dies at sea, we remember him. “What’s more, he represents the values of courage and selflessness and so we talk about him a lot.

“He practically lived at sea, with his two sons who always accompanied him, and he was a person who represented the community values that we want to pass on to our youth,” points out Aires Pereira, president of the local council.

Today, Póvoa’s sea is not only for fishermen, but also for all those who visit what is the most important seaside resort in the north of the country. “We manage to reconcile our traditions and our fish with the activity of those who visit us. Always with the “Cego do Maio” close by, with his vigilant bust on the Passeio Alegre, or in the Municipal Museum that now tells his story.