António de Almeida Santos
António de Almeida Santos, GCC, GCIH, GCL (15 February 1926 – 18 January 2016), was a Portuguese lawyer, politician and government minister.[1]
António de Almeida Santos | |
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Personal details | |
Born | António de Almeida Santos 15 February 1926 |
Died | 18 January 2016 |
Political party | Socialist Party |
Alma mater | Catholic University of Portugal |
Career
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 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. He died in January 2016, aged 89, after a brief illness.[2]
Awards and Honours
Awards
In 2003 was awarded the North-South Prize.
Honours
Grand-Cross of the Order of Liberty, Portugal (25 April 2004)[3] Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ, Portugal (6 June 2008)[4] Grand-Cross of the Order of Prince Henry, Portugal (8 March 2017)[5]
Family
He was married. One of his daughters died of a drug overdose, which led to his becoming a crusader in 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
- "António de Almeida Santos (1926-2016)". Correio de Manha. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- (in Portuguese) Diogo Queiroz de Andrade, Liliana Valente, "Morreu António Almeida Santos", Observador, 19 January 2016
- "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- Aguiar-Conraria, Luís (17 January 2018). "Canábis, uma oportunidade a não perder". Observador. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- Almeida Santos, António de. Que Nova Ordem Mundial?. Campo da Comunicação, 2008. p. 143.