Óscar Carmona

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Óscar Carmona BTO ComC GCA ComSE
President of Portugal
In office 29 November 1926 – 18 April 1951
Prime Minister	José Vicente de Freitas Artur Ivens Ferraz Domingos Oliveira António de Oliveira Salazar
Preceded by	Manuel Gomes da Costa
Succeeded by	Francisco Craveiro Lopes
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office 9 July 1926 – 18 April 1928
Deputy	Abílio Passos e Sousa
Preceded by	Manuel Gomes da Costa
Succeeded by	José Vicente de Freitas
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office Acting 4 September 1926 – 24 September 1926
Preceded by	Bettencourt Rodrigues
Succeeded by	Bettencourt Rodrigues
In office 3 June 1926 – 6 July 1926
Prime Minister	José Mendes Cabeçadas Manuel Gomes da Costa
Preceded by	Armando da Gama Ochoa
Succeeded by	Martinho Nobre de Melo
Minister of War
In office 9 July 1926 – 16 November 1926
Preceded by	Manuel Gomes da Costa
Succeeded by	Abílio Passos e Sousa
In office 15 November 1923 – 18 December 1923
Prime Minister	António Ginestal Machado
Preceded by	António Maria da Silva
Succeeded by	António Ribeiro de Carvalho
Personal details
Born	António Óscar Fragoso Carmona (1869-11-24)24 November 1869 Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	18 April 1951(1951-04-18) (aged 81) Lisbon, Portuguese Republic
Political party	National Union (1932–1951)
Spouse(s)	Maria do Carmo da Silva
Children	Cesaltina Amélia António Adérito Maria Inês
Alma mater	Portuguese Military Academy
Profession	Army officer
Awards	Order of Christ Order of Aviz Order of St. James of the Sword
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Portugal  Portugal
Branch/service	Portuguese Army
Years of service	1889–1951
Rank	Marshal
Commands	Portuguese Army 4th Division (1922–1925)

António Óscar Fragoso Carmona BTO ComC GCA ComSE (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ˈɔʃkaɾ fɾɐˈɡozu kaɾˈmonɐ]; 24 November 1869 – 18 April 1951) was a Portuguese Army officer and politician who served as the 96th Prime Minister of Portugal from 1926 to 1928 and 11th President of Portugal from 1926 until his death in 1951. He also served as the Minister of War in late 1923 and in 1926, and he also served two times as a Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1926.

Political origin[]

Carmona was a republican and a freemason and was a quick adherent to the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic on 5 October 1910. He was, however, never a sympathizer of the democratic form of government, and – as he would later confess in an interview to António Ferro – he only voted for the first time at the National Plebiscite of 1933. During the First Republic, he briefly served as War Minister in the government of António Ginestal Machado in 1923. Unlike the popular marshal Gomes da Costa, Carmona had not seen action in World War I.

Presidency[]

Óscar Carmona by Henrique Medina

Carmona was very active in the 28th May coup d'état of 1926 that overthrew the First Republic. The first Council President, the commandant José Mendes Cabeçadas, a democratic sympathizer supported by the last republican president, Bernardino Machado, was succeeded in June by Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa. Carmona, who had been the Minister for Foreign Affairs between 3 June and 6 July, was the leader of the most conservative and authoritarian wing of the military regime, which considered the more moderate Gomes da Costa a liability. On 9 July, he led a countercoup together with general João José Sinel de Cordes, named himself President, and immediately assumed dictatorial powers. He was formally elected to the office in 1928, as the only candidate.

In 1928 Carmona appointed António de Oliveira Salazar as Minister of Finance. Impressed by Salazar's charisma and qualities, Carmona nominated Salazar as Prime Minister in 1932, and largely turned over control of the government to him.

In 1933, a new constitution officially established the "Estado Novo". On paper, the new document codified the dictatorial powers Carmona had exercised since 1928. However, in practice he was now little more than a figurehead; Salazar held the real power. On paper, the president's power to dismiss Salazar was the only check on his power. However, Carmona mostly allowed Salazar a free hand. He was re-elected without opposition in 1935 and 1942 for seven-year terms. In 1935, he signed the law that forbade Freemasonry in Portugal reluctantly, due to his own Freemason past.

Although the democratic opposition was allowed to contest elections after World War II, Carmona was not on friendly terms with it. When the opposition demanded that the elections be delayed in order to give them more time to organize, Carmona turned them down.

However, there were widespread rumors that Carmona supported the failed military uprising in 1947, which was led by general José Marques Godinho to overthrow Salazar, under the condition that he would remain as President of the Republic. Probably to end these rumors, Carmona finally accepted the title of Marshal.

In 1949, Carmona, 79 years old, sought his fourth term as president. For the first time, he actually faced an opponent in General José Norton de Matos. However, after the regime refused to allow Matos to actually run a campaign, he pulled out of the race on 12 February, handing Carmona another term.

Carmona died two years later, in 1951, after 24 years as the President of the Republic. He was buried in the Church of Santa Engrácia, National Pantheon, in Lisbon.

Personal life[]

He was born to Alvaro Rosario Teixeira Carmona, a Portuguese Naval officer from Felgueiras, based in Brazil and part of the Portuguese Military Attache's staff in Brazil. In January 1914, Carmona married Maria do Carmo Ferreira da Silva (Chaves, 28 September 1878 – 13 March 1956), daughter of Germano da Silva and wife Engrácia de Jesus. With this marriage, he legitimized their three children.

He is the grand-uncle of the former Mayor of Lisbon Carmona Rodrigues (2004–2007). He is also cousin of Brazilian President Augusto Tasso Fragoso.^[1]

Honours[]

• Commander of the Order of Aviz, Portugal (15 February 1919)^[2]
• Commander of the Order of Saint James of the Sword, Portugal (28 February 1919)^[2]
• Commander of the Order of Christ, Portugal (28 June 1919)^[2]
• Grand-Cross of the Order of Aviz, Portugal (5 October 1925) ^[2]
• Grande Master of the Portuguese Honorific Orders, Portugal (29 November 1926)
• Grand-Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Italy (25 April 1930)^[2]
• Grand-Collar of the Imperial Order of the Red Arrows, Spain (1939)^[3]

Publications[]

Carmona wrote a book of rules for the Cavalry School in 1913.

Legacy[]

The town of Uíge, Angola, used to be called Carmona after him.^[4] It had that name until 1975 when the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola became independent. He was also portrayed in the Angolan escudo banknote issue of 1972.^[5]

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Óscar Carmona.

External links[]

• Newspaper clippings about Óscar Carmona in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW