British entrepreneur John Benedict Stilwell died “peacefully, at home” last Thursday at the age of 92, according to his family.
His funeral took place on Monday at 3pm at the Santo André church in Penina, where in 2014, the family patriarch had attended its 40th anniversary service.
The RTA Algarve regional tourism board has paid tribute to “one of the founding fathers of Algarve tourism”, saying it “profoundly lamented” his death.
John Stilwell was born in Lisbon in 1925 to a British father and Portuguese mother.
In 1943 he voluntarily joined the British Army to fight in the Second World War and was posted to Italy, where he jokingly recalled in an interview with The Portugal News several years ago, walking – “not all in one go” – from Naples to Trieste.
He envisaged the Penina Hotel and Golf Course while on holiday with a group of friends in Praia da Rocha in 1961.
Just five years later his vision became reality.
“One of my friends pointed out that there was very little to do in the winter, and said, ‘You’d better come up with something’.
“We looked at a little hotel in Praia da Rocha, but it was too expensive to do up, so I went looking for an alternative.”
Along with several other partners, he purchased the 146 hectares that were mainly rice fields – “there was a lot of water here” - and invited golfing legend Henry Cotton to design the course.
On 5 November, 1966, the Algarve’s first 18-hole golf course was inaugurated by Portugal’s then President, Américo Tomás.
Cotton famously described Penina in his biography as his “greatest achievement”, and is buried in nearby Mexilhoeira Grande, in a spot overlooking the course.
The resort went on to become the Algarve’s first five-star hotel, dressed with extraordinary historic artefacts deriving from the Stilwell family’s fascinating ties, among them a 16th century wardrobe, a snooker table originally given to the Royal British Club, of which Mr. Stilwell’s brother was chairman, by King Edward VII, and a piano gifted by Portugal’s Queen Dona Amélia, who was good friends with John Stilwell’s grandmother.
Over the years, Penina played host to a flow of stars and celebrities, including Bing Crosby and Sir Paul McCartney.
But perhaps one of the most poignant chapters in Penina’s and Portugal’s history is that it was also there that the Alvor Agreements were signed after the historic 25 April Revolution in 1974.
An accord was made between the Portuguese Government and three of Angola’s leading freedom movements (the MPLA, the FNLA and UNITA), to give the colony independence.
Unbeknown to many, it was signed in one of the rooms at Penina.
Desidério Silva, head of the RTA, said the region is “indebted” to Stilwell “for daring to dream of building the first five-star hotel and the first golf course in the region, without which we may not today be a tourist destination of internationally-recognised excellence for the practice of the sport.”
He added “The last 50 years of Algarve tourism have been shaped by the bold and innovative vision of John Stilwell in luxury hotels, golf and real estate tourism, where he pioneered”.