Francisco Pinto Balsemão
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| 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 de Lacerda Pinto da Costa Lobo (divorced) (2nd) María de las Mercedes Aliú y 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 José Pereira Pinto Balsemão, GCC (pronounced [fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku ˈpĩtu baɫsɨˈmɐ̃ũ]), (b. Lisbon, September 1, 1937), is a former Prime Minister of Portugal, who served from 1981 to 1983. He is the son of Henrique Patrício de Balsemão (b. Guarda, September 9, 1897) and wife (married in Lisbon on May 21, 1922) Maria Adelaide van Zeller de Castro Pereira (Sintra, August 11, 1897), granddaughter in male line of an adulterine son of King Pedro IV of Portugal.
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 Bilderberg Group, and as such has attracted some controversy.
He was the founder on October 6, 1992 of Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), the first Portuguese private network.
He married firstly to Maria Isabel de Lacerda Pinto da Costa Lobo, daughter of Manuel da Costa Lobo Cardoso, born in Vila Real on November 15, 1907, and wife Maria Amélia de Lacerda Pinto, born in Malanje, and had two children:
- Mónica da Costa Lobo Pinto Balsemão, married to Filipe Pereira Caldas Penaguião, son of António Manuel de Paula Morando Penaguião, born in Lisbon on June 20, 1935 of Italian ancestry on his male line 4th grandfather, and wife Maria João da Costa Pereira Caldas, born in Lisbon on June 17, 1945, and had two children:
- Tomás Pinto Balsemão Penaguião
- Marta Pinto Balsemão Penaguião
- Henrique da Costa Lobo Pinto Balsemão, Director of Programs of SIC, unmarried and without issue
He married secondly to María de las Mercedes Aliú y Presas and had two children:
- Joana Presas Pinto Balsemão, born at São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, on June 25, 1976, married to Francisco de Atouguia Belford Correia da Silva, born in Lisbon on October 31, 1974, son of Pedro de Barros Belford Correia da Silva, born in Luanda on April 24, 1946, of the Counts (formerly Viscounts) of Paço de Arcos, and first wife as her first husband (married in Lisbon on October 6, 1972 and divorced) Margarida Maria de Castro de Atouguia, born at Santos-o-Velho, in Lisbon, on October 30, 1948, of the Viscounts de Atouguia, and had three children:
- Francisco Pinto Balsemão Corrêa da Silva, born in Paço de Arcos, Oeiras, on June 29, 2001
- Teresa Pinto Balsemão Corrêa da Silva, born in Lisbon on November 9, 2004
- Pedro Pinto Balsemão Corrêa da Silva, born in Lisbon on August 24, 2007
- Francisco Pedro Presas Pinto Balsemão, unmarried and without issue
Out of wedlock he had a son by Isabel Maria Supico Pinto, born in Lisbon on October 26, 1942, second wife in São Paulo, São Paulo, on June 9, 1976, without issue of Vasco Maria Vasques da Cunha d' Eça da Costa e Almeida, 3rd Viscount of Maiorca (b. Encarnação, Lisbon, May 12, 1923), daughter of Clotário Luís Supico Ribeiro Pinto (1909-1986), son of Liberato Pinto, and first wife as her second husband actress Maria Adelaide da Silva Lalande, born at Salgueiro do Campo, Castelo Branco, on November 7, 1913 and died in Lisbon on March 21, 1968, former wife of actor Ribeirinho:
- Francisco Maria Supico Pinto Balsemão, unmarried and without issue
[edit] Ancestors
|
|||||||||||
 |
This article about a Portuguese politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
