Francisco Pinto Balsemão

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Francisco Pinto Balsemão

Prime Minister of Portugal
Order:	113th (59th of the Republic, 11th since the Carnation Revolution)
Term of Office	January 9, 1981 - June 9, 1983
Predecessor:	Diogo Freitas do Amaral
Successor:	Mário Soares
Date of Birth	September 1, 1937
Place of Birth:	Lisbon
Wife:	(1st) Maria Isabel Lacerda Pinto da Costa Lobo (2nd) Mercedes Aliu Presas
Occupation:	Journalist, newspaper editor, newspaper administrator, Chief Executive Officer of Impresa media group, Chairman of the European Publishers Council
Political Party:	Social Democratic

Francisco Pinto Balsemão, GCC (pron. IPA [fɾɐ̃'siʃku 'pĩtu baɫsɨ'mɐ̃ũ]), (b.September 1, 1937), is a former Prime Minister of Portugal, who served from 1981 to 1983.

Being a graduate in law from the University of Lisbon, Pinto's pre-political career was in newspaper publishing. After working as a journalist and then as an administrator of Diário Popular (the People's Daily in English) from 1963 to 1971, he founded the Expresso (portuguese newspaper) magazine in 1973 and continued to direct it until 1980. He is one of top managers and owners of Impresa media group.

Pinto Balsemão made his political debut following the Carnation Revolution in 1974, when, together with Francisco Sá Carneiro and Joaquim Magalhães Mota, he helped to found the Social Democratic Party (PSD), of which he is currently member number 1. In 1975 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly, which was charged with drafting a new constitution and served as an interim legislature. Pinto Balsemão was chosen as a Vice-President of this body.

Following the victory of the Democratic Alliance (a coalition led by the PSD) in two parliamentary elections (in 1979 and 1980), Pinto Balsemão held senior positions in two cabinets led by Prime Minister Sá Carneiro.

When Sá Carneiro was killed in an air accident on 4 December 1980, the Social Democratic Party chose Pinto Balsemão to succeed him. Despite his reputation for competence, he was widely perceived as lacking Sá Carneiro's charisma. He had difficulty maintaining the level of support enjoyed by his party, which had been based to a large extent on Sá Carneiro's personal popularity. He also had to cope with friction within the Democratic Alliance, and found the Democratic and Social Centre leader, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, a difficult ally. These factors contributed to his defeat in the parliamentary election of 1983. He finally retired from Parliament in 1987.

Pinto Balsemão currently serves as Chairman of the European Publishers Council 1 and as Chief Executive Officer of Grupo Impresa in Portugal. He is also a member of the secretive Bilderberg Group, and as such has attracted some controversy.

Prime Ministers of Portugal since the Carnation Revolution (1974)
National Salvation Junta - Palma Carlos - Vasco Gonçalves - Pinheiro de Azevedo - Almeida Costa - Mário Soares - Nobre da Costa - Mota Pinto - Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo - Sá Carneiro - Freitas do Amaral - Pinto Balsemão - Mário Soares - Cavaco Silva - António Guterres - Durão Barroso - Santana Lopes - José Sócrates