Born in 1910, in São Martinho do Porto, Portugal, Adelino Lyon de Castro was an editor and one of the most important and interesting amateur photographers of the 50’s in Portugal, despite his brief career and life. Together with his brother, Francisco Lyon de Castro, founded, in 1945, the Europe-America publications, that would become one of the leading publishers in the post-war Portuguese publishing scene. His editorial line was based on the defense of the publication of many authors prohibited by Censorship, in addition to betting on the importation of foreign authors, which led to frequent incidents with Censorship and PIDE. In 1952, they founded the project for the journal Ler, Jornal de Letras, Arte e Ciências, of which Adelino Lyon de Castro would become the editor, with the regular participation of names such as Piteira Santos, José Cardoso Pires, Maria Lamas, Mário Dionísio, António Quadros, José Régio or Orlando Ribeiro. The markedly political and social concerns of his publishing activity would also influence his career as an amateur photographer. He belonged to one of the most relevant photographic associations of the 50s, Foto Clube 6×6, founded in 1950 and based in Lisbon. His intense and close relationship with the literary and artistic means of resistance to the Dictatorship brought him closer to the General Expositions of Plastic Arts (EGAP), imbued with neo-realistic aesthetics, leading him to participate in the Photography section at the 5th EGAP. He participated in numerous national and international photographic salons. The totality of his photographic collection was donated to MNAC – Museu do Chiado in 2009.
