Currency of Cape Verde 2000 Escudos banknote 1999 Eugenio Tavares
Bank of Cape Verde - Banco de Cabo Verde
Dominating the front’s composition and surpassing half of the largest size of the note, there’s the picture of Eugénio Tavares, over a polychrome background consisting of flower petals.
In the upper left corner, there’s the inscription “2000” and immediately below it there are elements that enable the visually impaired to identify the note.
In the lower left side of the effigy and under the denomination “2000,” there’s the tip of a pen, symbolizing the literary man that Eugénio Tavares was.
Over the head of the effigy, there’s a hologram represented by an open book, where the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Cape Verde is inserted.
To complete the front’s composition two polychromatic bands were introduced, one at the bottom and the other wide at the top of the note, over which one can read, in intaglio, the texts “2000” and “2000 DOIS MIL ESCUDOS” (TWO THOUSAND ESCUDOS) – the latter in two lines respectively.
Born on the island of Brava, Eugénio de Paula Tavares (1867–1930) spent most of his life as a civil servant. However, his great fame in Cape Verde is his literary talent as a writer of ‘mornas’, which is a characteristic literary form of Cape Verde. Although varying in composition and structure, a morna usually consists of poetry set to music, with the poetry usually written in crioulo. Subjects of mornas are typically: longing for loved ones, sadness, and nostalgia, although any subject can be addressed. At social functions on the island of Brava, Tavare’s morna ‘The Hour to Leave’ is traditionally the last item sung at the end of an evening.
The back of the note carries lines from Morna aguada, a morna by Eugénio Tavares, written over a flower that is known in Cape Verde as the “cardeal” (cardinal flower). The title of "Morna aguada" is difficult to interpret. A literal translation is ‘Watery Morna, but the concept of ‘water’ probably refers to tears and to the water that separates loved ones (particularly apt for inhabitants of an island nation). The text from the "Morna aguada" can be translated as:
If I am to live in this misery
Which does not have
The one that wants me
Then I want to die without light
On my cross
With this pain
To give my life
To the martyrdom of love
Se ê pam vivê na es mal
De Ca tem
Quem que q'rem,
Ma'nq' re morré sem luz
Na nha cruz,
Na es dor
De dâ nha bida
Na martírio de amor!
Also on the back is a strip of reflective gold ink with ‘2000’ and a cardeal flower appearing due to the absence of ink. There are two watermarks, with the traditional watermark being of Eugénio Tavares, while there is also an electrolyte watermark of ‘2000’. The elaborate security thread is windowed on the back of the note and contains the text ‘BCV 2000’ and an image of the nib of a pen. The nib of a pen with ‘ET’ (for Eugénio Tavares) is used as a perfect registration device.
While the national emblem of Cape Verde is no longer immediately apparent on the note, except as an image in the hologram, it is in fact printed in fluorescent ink on the back of the note, replacing the five-pointed star and scroll that had been previously used. The note includes various other fluorescent features, such as the red serial number, the security thread and numerous inks on the note.
Watermark: Amilcar Cabral.
In 1999 the first of the two new denominations was introduced. The 2000-escudo is multicoloured, with the dominant colour being blue, and measures 142 X 71 mm. In line with the previous use of significant dates on all banknotes issued by Cape Verde, the date appearing on this note, 1 July 1999, celebrates the twenty-third anniversary of the commencement of operations of the Bank of Cape Verde. The signatories for this note are Oswaldo Miguel Sequeira, still signing as Governor of the Bank of Cape Verde and Vasco Marta who signs as an Administrador, which is probably best translated as an ‘Executive Director’ (of the Bank of Cape Verde). Thus, the notes no longer carry the signature of a government minister.
Immediately noticeable is the vertical format of this note, although the signatures, the date, the serial numbers, and the hologram of an open book are all designed to be viewed in horizontal format.
Cape Verde Banknotes - Cape Verde Paper Money
1992-2002 Issue
The changes wrought by the first government of the Movement for Democracy party (MpD) saw many changes to the symbols of Cape Verde. Not only were the flag and the national emblem changed, but a new series of banknotes was commissioned. While Amilcar Cabral was still recognized as a national hero, his portrait no longer appeared on the notes introduced under the new regime, although his image is retained in the watermark.
Again printed by De La Rue, the notes of the new series were apparently released in 1992, although the specific date of their release is not known. This series initially contained three denominations—200, 500, and 1000 escudos—but a further two denominations followed several years later. The two new denominations are the 2000 and 5000 escudo notes, with the denomination of 2500 escudos being discontinued.
The notes released in 1992 have many common features, being the same size and colour as the notes they replaced, although they no longer have a common illustration on the front. The perfect registration device of the cob of corn is continued from the previous series, as is the watermark of Amilcar Cabral, the clear security thread with ‘BCV’ micro-printed on it, the micro-printing of ‘BANCODECABOVERDE’, and the fluorescent features on the front and back of the notes. The latent image on each note is now simply the denomination of the note and the signatures are of José Tomás Wahnon Veiga, the Minister of Finance and Planning, and Oswaldo Miguel Sequeira, the Governor of the Bank of Cape Verde.
On the back of each note is the new national emblem. The central device consists of a circle, containing a representation of water (three stripes) and a triangle overlaid with a torch, and with a plumb-bob at the apex of the circle. This emblem is surrounded by ten stars (five left and five right), the leaves of a plant (bottom left and right), and three links of a chain (bottom). Arching over the triangle within the circle is ‘Republic of Cape Verde’ in Portuguese. The stars represent the main islands of Cape Verde; the plumb-bob is symbolic of rectitude and virtue; the torch and triangle represent unity and freedom.
Again printed by De La Rue, the notes of the new series were apparently released in 1992, although the specific date of their release is not known. This series initially contained three denominations—200, 500, and 1000 escudos—but a further two denominations followed several years later. The two new denominations are the 2000 and 5000 escudo notes, with the denomination of 2500 escudos being discontinued.
The notes released in 1992 have many common features, being the same size and colour as the notes they replaced, although they no longer have a common illustration on the front. The perfect registration device of the cob of corn is continued from the previous series, as is the watermark of Amilcar Cabral, the clear security thread with ‘BCV’ micro-printed on it, the micro-printing of ‘BANCODECABOVERDE’, and the fluorescent features on the front and back of the notes. The latent image on each note is now simply the denomination of the note and the signatures are of José Tomás Wahnon Veiga, the Minister of Finance and Planning, and Oswaldo Miguel Sequeira, the Governor of the Bank of Cape Verde.
On the back of each note is the new national emblem. The central device consists of a circle, containing a representation of water (three stripes) and a triangle overlaid with a torch, and with a plumb-bob at the apex of the circle. This emblem is surrounded by ten stars (five left and five right), the leaves of a plant (bottom left and right), and three links of a chain (bottom). Arching over the triangle within the circle is ‘Republic of Cape Verde’ in Portuguese. The stars represent the main islands of Cape Verde; the plumb-bob is symbolic of rectitude and virtue; the torch and triangle represent unity and freedom.
Eugénio de Paula Tavares
Eugénio de Paula Tavares (born 18 October 1867 in the island of Brava; died 1 June 1930 in Vila Nova Sintra) was a Cape Verdean poet. He is known through his famous poems (mornas), written in the Crioulo of Brava.
Eugénio de Paula Tavares was born on the island of Brava in October 1867 to Francisco de Paula Tavares and Eugenia Roiz Nozzolini Tavares. His family is mainly descended from Santarem, Portugal. He was baptized at the Saint John the Baptist (São João Baptista) church in Brava. A few years later, his father starved to death and he was adopted by José and Eugenia Martins de Vera Cruz. José Martins de Vera Cruz, a physician and surgeon who was also mayor (now president) of Boa Vista and Sal (Sal was not its own municipality until the 1930s) and later of Brava after he moved. One of his distant relatives João Jose de Sena was mayor of the island. In 1876, he attended Nova Sintra's primary school (Escola Primaria). Most of his times, he never attended school, along with another Cape Verdean poet José Lopes, he was self-taught.
The city of Mindelo was largely marked by the Bravense child, later he went to the public farm in Tarrafal de Santiago. At age 15, he made an anthology known as the Almanaque de lembraço Luso-Brasileiro, an almanac which he wrote until his death, the remaining were posthumously published in 1932. He returned to his native island in 1890, first he received his own farm and married D. Guiomar Leça. When Serpa Pinto was colonial governor, he congratulated the poet. He published several "morna" poems, his new themes included love, island, sea, women, emigrant and health. Tavares was influenced by one of the greatest Portuguese writers of the time including Luís Camões and João de Deus. Between 1890 and 1900, Tavares was the "dolphin" of Cape Verde". One of his works did not appear until 1996 in Cape Verde and was "Hino de Brava" ("Hymn of Brava") which became the island's official anthem. As hunger affected the island along with the archipelago, Tavares lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts in the United States of America between 1900 and 1910, there he wrote articles for A Alvorada, a Portuguese language exiled newspaper in the US. When Portugal along with its empire became a republic, it promoted criticism in the colonies. He came back to Cape Verde afterwards. A year after his return, he published one of the most newspapers at the time, A Voz de Cabo Verde (Voice of Cape Verde) up to 1916.
In 1929, he collaborated with different articles in "Spiritual Review" done by Federação Espírita Portuguesa (the Portuguese Spiritual Federation).
Legacy
His name is honored in the name of the town square in Vila Nova Sintra along with a statue, where his home is located which is now a museum. Also now, a street name is named in the western part of the capital city of Praia in Cidadela which runs for about 500 meters and intersects the Praia-Cidade Velha road, nearby is the Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde.
Later, Cape Verdean singers and musicians including Cesária Évora and Celina Pereira sang songs based on his morna.
Some of his poems would be republished in a collection by others including Gabriel Mariano.
On February 1995, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of the Ordem do Vulcão by president António Mascarenhas Monteiro.
The poem "morna aguada" was featured in a Cape Verdean escudo note in 1999. Between 2007 and 2014, he was featured on a Cape Verdean $2000 escudo note, on the reverse "morna aguada" continued to be featured. At the right part is a flower of his native island.
His poem Mal de amor (Bad Love), his work of poems can be found on the CD Poesia de Cabo Verde e Sete Poemas de Sebastião da Gama (2007) by Afonso Dias
In 2007, the Monument to the Emigrants which features one of his mornas on top is erected in Praia's Achada Grande Tras at a circle or a roundabout intersecting the Praia Circular Road (Circular da Praia), Avenida Aristides Pereira (both the EN1-ST06) and the road to Nelson Mandela International Airport.
In 2014, both the University of Cape Verde and the Camões Institute of Lisbon, Portugal created Eugénio Tavares Chair of the Portuguese language in order to boost research of teaching of Portuguese in Cape Verde.
In 2017, the 150th anniversary of his birth will be commemorated.
Works
Mornas in Brava Creole:
- Çancao ao Mar (Song of the Sea)
- Morna aguada
- Morna de desperdida
- Bidjica
- "Mal de amor"
- Nha Santana
- Hino de Brava (Song/Hymn of Brava)