Diogo Freitas do Amaral facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Diogo de Freitas do Amaral
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Freitas do Amaral in 2005
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Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 12 March 2005 – 3 July 2006 |
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Prime Minister | José Sócrates |
Preceded by | António Monteiro |
Succeeded by | Luís Amado |
In office 10 January 1980 – 12 January 1981 |
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Prime Minister | Francisco de Sá Carneiro |
Preceded by | João Cardoso |
Succeeded by | André Gonçalves Pereira |
President of the Democratic Social Centre | |
In office 31 January 1988 – 22 March 1992 |
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Vice President | Basílio Horta João Morais Leitão José Luís Nogueira de Brito Luís Beiroco |
Preceded by | Adriano Moreira |
Succeeded by | Manuel Monteiro |
In office 26 January 1975 – 20 February 1983 |
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Vice President | Adelino Amaro da Costa Basílio Horta Francisco Lucas Pires Vítor de Sá Machado |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Francisco Lucas Pires |
Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal | |
In office 4 September 1981 – 9 June 1983 |
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Prime Minister | Francisco Pinto Balsemão |
Preceded by | Office vacant |
Succeeded by | Carlos Mota Pinto |
In office 3 January 1980 – 9 January 1981 |
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Prime Minister | Francisco de Sá Carneiro |
Preceded by | Manuel Jacinto Nunes |
Succeeded by | Office vacant |
Minister of National Defence | |
In office 4 September 1981 – 9 June 1983 |
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Prime Minister | Francisco Pinto Balsemão |
Preceded by | Luís de Azevedo Coutinho |
Succeeded by | Carlos Mota Pinto |
Acting Prime Minister of Portugal | |
In office 4 December 1980 – 9 January 1981 |
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President | António Ramalho Eanes |
Deputy | Francisco Pinto Balsemão |
Preceded by | Francisco de Sá Carneiro |
Succeeded by | Francisco Pinto Balsemão |
Personal details | |
Born | Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal |
21 July 1941
Died | 3 October 2019 Cascais, Portugal |
(aged 78)
Political party | Independent |
Other political affiliations |
Democratic Social Centre – People's Party |
Spouse | Maria José Salgado Sarmento de Matos |
Children | 4 |
Signature | |
Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (Portuguese pronunciation: [diˈoɣu ˈfɾɐjtɐʒ ðu ɐmɐˈɾal]; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019), known as Freitas do Amaral, was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 to 3 July 2006. He also served briefly as Prime Minister in an interim capacity in the early 1980s.
Contents
Background
He was born in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, the third but first surviving son of Duarte de Freitas do Amaral and wife Maria Filomena de Campos Trocado, and the older brother of João de Freitas do Amaral.
Career
He was a Licentiate and a Doctorate in Law specialised in Administrative Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, and a Cathedratic Professor in the Faculty of Law at the New University of Lisbon and also a publicist.
He served as a professor in the Faculty of Law of the Lusófona University of Lisbon, where he taught and governed as the chair of the Economics of Public Law in Law degree, developing other teaching activities in the same college.
In 1974, some months after the Carnation Revolution, he was one of the Founders and President of then Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), a Christian democratic party. He led this party till 1985, and again from 1988 to 1991. He served as a Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic (the Portuguese parliament) from 1975 to 1982 or 1983, and again in 1992 and 1993.
He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State (1974–1982).
In the parliamentary elections of 1979 and 1980, the Democratic Alliance (of which the CDS was a part) won a majority and formed the government, in which Freitas served as Deputy Prime Minister or Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1980 and Deputy Prime Minister or Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Defence between 1981 and 1983. After the death of Francisco Sá Carneiro, Freitas do Amaral was interim Prime Minister for a short period between 1980 and 1981. Between 1981 and 1982 he was also the President of the European People's Party.
He was a candidate in 1985 for the presidency in the 1986 presidential election. Supported by his own People's Party and by the Social Democratic Party, he established a commanding lead in the first round, but lost the second round by some 150,000 votes to Mário Soares, who was endorsed by the two eliminated candidates.
He was President of the United Nations General Assembly (1995–1996).
A European federalist, he left the party he founded, disagreeing mainly with the Eurosceptic line followed by Manuel Monteiro and Paulo Portas.
Always seen as a right-winger, Freitas do Amaral supported the Social Democratic Party in the parliamentary election of 2002. However, disappointed with the government performance, and critical of its support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Freitas do Amaral surprised many observers by announcing his support for the Socialist Party in the 2005 election. He was subsequently nominated for Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the XVII Constitutional Government, led by the Socialist leader José Sócrates. He resigned after a little over one year in office, citing health reasons and, as revealed to a newspaper, tiredness resulting from the many diplomatic trips taken.
He was also a Juridical Consultant of many companies.
He authored a biography of King Afonso I and a play about Viriatus.
He also published a study of the actuality and reform of the prison system in Portugal.
Honours
- Grand-Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Italy (3 November 1980)
- Grand-Cross of the Order of St. Olav, Norway (3 November 1980)
- Grand-Cross of the Order of Merit, Germany (22 December 1980)
- Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ, Portugal (3 August 1983)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry, Portugal (9 June 1984)
- Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword, Portugal (9 June 2003)
- Commander of National Order of Merit, France (27 January 2006)
- First Class of the Order of the White Star, Estonia (29 March 2006)
Personal life
He married in Sintra, Santa Maria, on 31 July 1965 Maria José Salgado Sarmento de Matos, born in Lisbon on 13 October 1943, writer under the pseudonym Maria Roma, daughter of José Sarmento Osório de Vasconcelos de Matos (Moimenta da Beira, 28 July 1909 – Sintra, 17 July 1992). They had four children.
In September 2019, Freitas do Amaral was hospitalized in critical condition at a Cascais hospital. On 3 October 2019, it was announced that Freitas do Amaral had died.
Electoral results
1986 Portuguese presidential election
Candidates | Supporting parties | First round | Second round | |||
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Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
Mário Soares | Socialist Party | 1,443,683 | 25.43 | 3,010,756 | 51.18 | |
Diogo Freitas do Amaral | Democratic Social Centre, Social Democratic Party | 2,629,597 | 46.31 | 2,872,064 | 48.82 | |
Francisco Salgado Zenha | Portuguese Communist Party, Democratic Renovator Party | 1,185,867 | 20.88 | |||
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo | Independent | 418,961 | 7.38 | |||
Ângelo Veloso | Portuguese Communist Party | left the race | ||||
Total valid | 5,677,525 | 100.00 | 5,882,820 | 100.00 | ||
Blank ballots | 46,334 | 0.81 | 33,844 | 0.57 | ||
Invalid ballots | 18,292 | 0.32 | 20,436 | 0.34 | ||
Total (turnout 75.38% and 77.99%) | 5,742,151 | 5,937,100 | ||||
He left the race in favor of Salgado Zenha. | ||||||
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |
Books
- D. Afonso Henriques biografia. Lisboa: Bertrand, 2009
- Camarate: um caso ainda em aberto : apelo de um cidadão. Lisboa: Bertrand, 2010. ISBN: 9789722522434
See also
In Spanish: Diogo Freitas do Amaral para niños