António de Almeida Santos

António de Almeida Santos
GCC, GCIH, GCL
President of the Socialist Party
In office
21 February 1992 – 9 September 2011
Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres
Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues
José Sócrates
António José Seguro
Preceded byJoão Ferraz de Abreu
Succeeded byMaria de Belém Roseira
President of the Assembly of the Republic
In office
31 October 1995 – 4 April 2002
Preceded byAntónio Barbosa de Melo
Succeeded byJoão Bosco Mota Amaral
Ministerial offices
1983–1985Minister of State
1978–1978Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister
1976–1978Minister of Justice
1975–1976Minister of Social Communication
1974–1975Minister of Interterritorial Coordination
Personal details
Born(1926-02-15)15 February 1926
Seia, Portugal
Died18 January 2016(2016-01-18) (aged 89)
Oeiras, Portugal
Political partySocialist Party
Alma materUniversity of Coimbra

António de Almeida Santos GCC, GCIH, GCL (15 February 1926 – 18 January 2016) was a Portuguese lawyer, politician and government minister.[1]

Career

Born in Seia, Portugal, António de Almeida Santos was a jurist who graduated as a licentiate in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra in 1950. In 1952 he went to the city of Lourenço Marques, Overseas Province of Mozambique (now Maputo, Mozambique) where he was a lawyer from 1953 to 1974 and a Member of the Group of Democrats of Mozambique. Following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, he returned to Lisbon.

As an Independent he was Minister of the Interterritorial Coordination in the first four Provisional Governments, of the Social Communication in the 6th, and Minister of Justice in the 1st Constitutional Government of Mário Soares. In those functions he entered the Socialist Party (PS) in its 2nd Congress. In the 2nd Constitutional Government he was the Adjoint Minister to the Prime Minister of Portugal Mário Soares and in the 6th Constitutional Government he was Minister of State and of Parliamentary Affairs. He was also the President of the Parliamentary Group of PS between 16 October 1992 and 10 November 1993, and the President of PS in 1992, reelected in 1994.

He was elected the 10th President of the Assembly of the Republic in the 7th and 8th Legislatures (31 October 1995 – 4 April 2002).

António de Almeida Santos was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State from 1985 until his death, as the President of the Assembly of the Republic from 31 October 1995 to 4 April 2002, and from then on as a Member elected by the Assembly of the Republic.[citation needed] In January 2016, aged 89, he died at his home in Oeiras after a brief illness.[2]

Awards and honours

Awards

In 2003 was awarded the North-South Prize.

Honours

Family

He was married. One of his daughters died of a drug overdose, which led him to become a supporter of the fight against the criminalization of drug consumption.[6] He defended drug legalization.[7]

References

  • Os Presidentes do Parlamento (Presidents of the Portuguese Parliament), Assembly of the Republic
  1. ^ "António de Almeida Santos (1926–2016)". Correio da Manhã. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ^ (in Portuguese) Diogo Queiroz de Andrade, Liliana Valente, "Morreu António Almeida Santos", Observador, 19 January 2016
  3. ^ "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  6. ^ Aguiar-Conraria, Luís (17 January 2018). "Canábis, uma oportunidade a não perder". Observador. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  7. ^ Almeida Santos, António de. Que Nova Ordem Mundial?. Campo da Comunicação, 2008. p. 143.