Prof Aluísio Francisco Gonzaga Soares

The late Mr. Aloysius Soares was a great man, admired by those who knew him and by those who, not knowing him, read his articles of a very high standard either in The Week which he founded and edited or in the newspapers and magazines of the country. Slightly built and frail, Mr. Soares was a living example of the triumph of the will over the flesh and whatever he touched, he adorned.

Born in Goa, in 1891, he had a remarkable brilliant career. He passed the Matriculation examination from St. Xavier's High School, topping the list of successful candidates. In St. Xavier's College he always stood first and at the University examinations carried away the most coveted prizes- the Ellis Scholarship and the Duke of Edinburgh Fellowship. He obtained a First Class at the M.A. with Economics as his principal subject - a rare feat in those days.

After lecturing for three years in St. Xavier's College, he took over the Antonio D'Souza School as principal and built it into one of the best schools in the city. An educationist by temper, Mr. Soares was also a politician by inclination. He was a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation for ten years and founded The Week in which he fought British imperialism with his pen. Always lucid and fluent, pungent and honest, Mr. Soares had the gift of presenting the most complex problem in clear language. Later he founded and edited the Goan Tribune in the fight for the liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule. He was connected with innumerable institutions - the University Senate and Syndicate, The Catholic Welfare Organisation, the Catholic Union of India, the Catholic Association of Bombay, the National Seamen's Union of India, to mention a few. Whatever be the organisation with which he was associated, Mr. Soares gave of his best to it. The Church recognised his great work when Pope Pius XII made him a Knight Commander of the Order of St.Gregory.

Source: St. Xavier's College Magazine, 1972