Professor João de Castro Nunes, Doctor of Classical Philology from the University of Coimbra; Professor of Portuguese Culture at the Universities of Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca and Católica de Paris; ex vice-Rector of the University of Luanda, and Director of Language and Literature in the Secção de Sá de Bandeira; co-ordinator of Archaeological Studies at the Faculdade de Letras at the University of Lisbon, amongst other s. Since retirement, invited to lecture at the Department of History at the University of Lusíada; consultant to the Unesco Forum – University and Heritage; author of half a century’s work on his area of specialisation (archaeology and linguistics) etc. wrote the following in the Góis and Arganil newspapers of Christmas 2004:

                     “ Dr. João Alves Simões
The goiense João Alves Simões deserves…my respect for his writings and his investigations.
For this, I honour  him.
He achieved great success at University.
…more than a teacher, he has achieved the stature of Historian of Góis and the region…
… taking pride in his humble origins…”

The same Professor, João de Castro Nunes, came back to write in the local and regional press, and also on the Internet:

                     “João Alves Simões”
“João Alves Simões, my esteemed and valued friend, a position he has earned through his own efforts and hard work … has my admiration…for his will to succeed in life…while maintaining his original identity.
He takes pride in being “a nobody”…
he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth…
…but his humble ancestry, as can be seen, makes him no less noble than the highest born!”