A decade later - Fundação Luso-Americana

cAusTic Humor
And Kind GesTures
But Portugal definitely won Finberg over.
At the end of his mandate, he returned to
the States to work in Latin-American relations
again at the Pan American
Development Foundation and Partners of
the Americas, but not without first buying
an apartment in Praia Maria Luísa in the
Algarve, where he continued to entertain
Portuguese friends during his vacations.
When he was there, he spent time discussing
some of the country’s most pressing
problems, because he continued to subscribe
to the Portuguese weekly paper
expresso, and always enquired about the
quality of the Gulbenkian Foundation’s
current concert season. “He didn’t miss a
concert, and he would organize trips and
distribute the programs. He was also very
funny, though it was a biting sense of
humor. I miss the days when we worked
really hard in those confined spaces in a
way that was both professional and familial.
Sometimes he’d bring in a cake that
his wife baked,” recalls Luisa Gomes, who
became Finberg’s friend.
Almeida Pinheiro feels that continuing to
work alongside his boss at the US Embassy
proFiLe
donald and Hela Finberg on a visit to portugal in June of 2010.
was a privilege. He has fond memories of
the frequent outings they made to Lisbon’s
hole-in-the-wall eateries because “he
adored our food.” He also recalls the conversations
that were tempered with fine
wine and Finberg’s “striking sense of
humor, with a sarcasm reminiscent of Eça
de Queroz. But under all that sarcasm was
a touching tenderness.”
‘ i miss the days when we worked
really hard in those confined spaces
in a way that was both professional
and familial. sometimes he’d bring
in a cake that his wife baked.
’
Luísa Gomes
“Our house is your house,” Finberg
would say, “and you could tell the statement
was genuine. Every year he would
send Christmas cards with a detailed rundown
of the events in his life that year. It
was a kind of family newsletter,” explains
Paula Vicente, who worked as Finberg’s
secretary from the first days of the
Foundation. Though he was professionally
demanding, the well-being and professional
growth of employees and
associates were his badge of pride. “I got
pregnant right after the Foundation got
going,” says Paula Vicente, currently FLAD
program officer. “But Mr. Finberg made a
point of me coming
back to my Job after my
leave was over. I learned
a lot from him, because
he helped people
improve themselves; he
didn’t want anybody to
stagnate.” She also still
remembers when
Finberg came to visit
her newborn, the smile
on his face when he
enquired about everyone’s
families, and how
he strolled down the corridors with headphones
on, listening to classical music.
“Sometimes he would ask: ‘Any news?
Y’know, when the cat’s away …’ And I
would unfailingly answer, ‘the mice will
play…’”
Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 59
PAULA VICENTE