Historian, archaeologist and museologist, Ivone Batista de Magalhães devoted much of her life to preserving the maritime heritage of Esposende. Her work gave a voice to boats, communities, traditional occupations and stories passed down through generations, all of which share a common root along the Portuguese and Galician coast. Ivone belonged to that group of people whose true significance is understood not only through the books and projects they leave behind, but also through everything they helped preserve. She graduated in History, specialising in Archaeology, from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto, and went on to deepen her knowledge of Museology, Landscape Archaeology, and Underwater and Naval Archaeology. Her career made her a leading figure in Portuguese maritime museology, particularly in Esposende.
She understood that a traditional boat is not merely wood, sails and technical skill: it is also the story of those who built it, sailed it and depended upon it. The same applied to objects, photographs, documents and oral testimonies. Everything could become a gateway to memory.
A Sea Without Borders
For Ivone, maritime culture did not end at the River Minho. Galicia was part of the same Atlantic reality, shaped by boats, fishing, ports, religious devotions, traditional knowledge and shared memories.
The restoration and appreciation of the Catraia Santa Maria dos Anjos embody this journey. The boat’s presence at Expo ’98 and at gatherings of traditional boats in Portugal and Galicia helped bring together communities and institutions connected by a shared maritime culture.
Ivone did not merely want to display heritage: she wanted it to be understood, respected and passed on to future generations.
Her name became closely associated with the Municipal Museum of Esposende and with the Maritime Museum of Esposende, founded in 2012. At the Forum Esposendense, she also took part in projects and initiatives aimed at promoting and preserving the local maritime history. MUMAR-E and CIDOCmar, developed together with Elsa Teixeira, a conservation specialist at the Maritime Museum of Esposende, are examples of her commitment to creating knowledge, organising heritage and preparing for the future.
A Tribute and a Legacy
On 1 August, the Maritime Museum of Esposende held a tribute to its former colleague and friend, at a ceremony presided over by Fernando Loureiro Ferreira, attended by the Councillor for Culture, Dr Paula Cepa, family members, friends and several figures who had shared part of her journey, including Emílio Ínsua Penteado Neiva, António Carmo, Abel Coentrão, Victor Fernandez and Joel Cleto.
Now, following a proposal by the Maritime Museum of Esposende, the Municipal Council will posthumously award her the Medal of Cultural Merit on 19 August, Municipal Day.
It is a recognition that comes after her passing, but which places in the collective memory the contribution of a woman who understood the coast as a space of identity and encounter.
Esposende is poorer for her loss. Galicia, too, has lost an interlocutor for a shared maritime memory. But the Atlantic knows no definitive borders. The tides ebb and return, and stories continue to travel.
The story of Ivone Batista de Magalhães will therefore continue to sail between Esposende and Galicia: in the boats, in the museums, in the institutions she helped to strengthen and, above all, in the memory of a coastline where the sea was never merely a landscape, but a way of life and a bridge between peoples.
Fernando Loureiro Ferreira
Director of the Maritime Museum of Esposende
