The persistent complicity of risks and insurance

TEXT: MARIA FERNANDA ROLLO IMAGES: ISTOCK

In this article we wish to offer a complete overview of the history and heritage of insurance in Portugal. Join us on this journey between recollections of the past and wishes for a more sustainable future.

Insurance is “an agreement whereby, having agreed the price of a risk, one person takes upon himself another’s misfortune”1. The Portuguese jurist Pedro de Santarém defined it thus over 500 years ago, in what is internationally considered the oldest insurance treaty and duly recognized as the first legal study dedicated to marine insurance, in which specific references are made to the relationship between risk and premium.

The text was written in 1488 and published in 1552. At that time, there was already widespread insurance activity among Portuguese merchants. In fact, the first form of insurance in Portugal dates back to the end of the 12th century, when king Dionysius I ordered the merchants to create a protection fund for the victims of losses of vessels or products, inspired in some way by the practices adopted in the contracts of Italian merchants involved in maritime trade, so as to protect themselves against shipwrecks, piracy and theft.

The aim and, indeed, the responsibility to preserve and appreciate this historic legacy, together with its contribution to the comprehension of the insurance activity, and the importance of insurance and insurance companies in today’s society, led the Portuguese Association of Insurers (APS for its initials in Portuguese) and its associate members to draw up the program History, Memory and Heritage of Insurance and Insurers in Portugal and create the Permanent Exhibition of the Memory of Insurance (EPMS).

History, Memory and Heritage of Insurance and Insurers in Portugal is designed to organize, promote and disseminate the historical heritage (documents, collections of objects, photographs…), compile memorabilia and testimonies, foster further awareness of, and research into, the history of insurance in Portugal, and promote knowledge and regard for the insurance activity.

This is a collaborative project which actively seeks the involvement and participation of all those – institutions or individuals – who wish to support, contribute or collaborate in this program dedicated to furthering knowledge and appreciation of the historical memory of the insurance activity.

The truth is that the history of insurance – the insurance activity, the companies and the various actors who helped build it – is mixed up in, forms part, and is a reflection of our global history, with obvious specific features if we take into account the European context.

Portugal has long assumed the affirmation and pioneering spirit of the insurance activity as something inherently Portuguese, History, Memory and Heritage of Insurance and Insurers in Portugal is designed to organize, promote and disseminate the historical heritage (documents, collections of objects, photographs…), compile memorabilia and testimonies, foster further awareness of, and research into, the history of insurance in Portugal, and promote knowledge and regard for the insurance activity.

This is a collaborative project which actively seeks the involvement and participation of all those – institutions or individuals – who wish to support, contribute or collaborate in this program dedicated to furthering knowledge and appreciation of the historical memory of the insurance activity. The truth is that the history of insurance – the insurance activity, the companies and the various actors who helped build it – is mixed up in, forms part, and is a reflection of our global history, with obvious specific features if we take into account the European context.

Portugal has long assumed the affirmation and pioneering spirit of the insurance activity as something inherently Portuguese,

The program History, Memory and Heritage of Insurance and Insurers in Portugal includes a wide range of activities:

• Collaboration and Coresponsibility (All Insured): the organization of actions that particularly involve the professionals of the sector, with collaborative dynamics designed to promote and assess the insurance activity, the identity of the sector and its component communities, together with society at large;
• Conservation (Heritage Insured): the identification and organization, conservation and promotion of the adoption of good practices, study and assessment of collections and of the historical heritage;
• Participation and Exhibition (Insurance for All): dissemination of the information compiled and open-access research conducted, and exhibition of the collections and heritage;
• Research (Better Insurance): promoting study, research and further in-depth knowledge of the history and current relevance of the insurance activity;
• Dissemination (More Insurance): undertaking increasingly dynamic initiatives and scientific and cultural activities, including the preparation of historical studies and dissemination activities, together with the scientific community and the general public;
• Knowledge and Social Responsibility (All Insured): activities together with the general public, especially the school community, related to the insurance activity and the importance of insurance and insurers in society today.

Recollections and Testimonies

The project Recollections and Testimonies is dedicated to the compilation and reproduction of the recollections and testimonies of people related to the history of insurance and its activity. These people are invited to participate in interviews, sharing their memories and testimonies (with photographs, objects, documents…), which are duly registered and digitized. The project to compile these memories is undertaken in collaboration with the program “Memory For All” (https:// memoriaparatodos.pt/portfolio/ memorias-dos-seguros/).

Discover the world of insurance

The Permanent Exhibition of the Memory of Insurance (EPMS) includes the principal aspects associated with the insurance activity. Most noteworthy are risk awareness, its raison d’être, and how insurance seeks to mitigate its effects, promoting accident prevention, safety and protection. The exhibition, which includes a range of multimedia resources, evokes the landmark moments in the history of the insurance activity, dating right back to the 13th century. This was when the first contracts of Italian merchants involved in maritime trade appeared to protect themselves against shipwrecks, piracy and theft and, in Portugal, Dionysius I ordered the merchants to create a protection fund for the victims of losses of vessels or products. The EPMS is a space dedicated to the community, which provides a series of supporting and accompanying materials for visits to schools. It is ready and willing to support activities that focus on promoting greater proximity and awareness, especially among the younger generations, on issues such as financial knowledge, risk, disasters and the importance of being safe. http:// memoriadoseguro.pt

In all such activities, the educational component and ‘literacy’ on insurance questions is essential, as the goal is to achieve commitment to civic and social responsibility, together with the search for a dynamic of responsibility in terms of sustainability and well-being.