Francisco da Costa Gomes
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Francisco da Costa Gomes ComTE • GOA | |
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President of Portugal | |
In office 30 September 1974 – 13 July 1976 | |
Prime Minister | Vasco Gonçalves José Pinheiro de Azevedo Vasco Almeida e Costa |
Preceded by | António de Spínola |
Succeeded by | António Ramalho Eanes |
President of the Revolutionary Council | |
In office 14 March 1975 – 13 July 1976 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | António Ramalho Eanes |
President of the National Salvation Junta | |
In office 30 September 1974 – 14 March 1975 | |
Preceded by | António de Spínola |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff | |
In office 29 April 1974 – 13 July 1976 | |
Preceded by | |
Succeeded by | António Ramalho Eanes |
In office 5 September 1972 – 13 May 1974 | |
Preceded by | |
Succeeded by | |
Personal details | |
Born | Chaves, Portugal | 30 June 1914
Died | 31 July 2001 Lisbon, Portugal | (aged 87)
Nationality | ![]() |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse(s) | Maria Estela Antas Varajão (Died in 2013) |
Alma mater | University of Porto |
Occupation | Military officer, politician |
Profession | Professor |
Portfolio | Military Region of Angola |
Signature | ![]() |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch/service | Portuguese Army |
Years of service | 1931–1976 |
Rank | General (Effective) Field Marshal (Honorific) |
Battles/wars | Portuguese Colonial War |
Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku dɐ ˈkɔʃtɐ ˈɡomɨʃ]; 30 June 1914 – 31 July 2001) was a Portuguese military officer and politician, the 15th President of the Portuguese Republic (the second after the Carnation Revolution). Under him Angola and Mozambique left Portugal.
Life[]
He was one of the eleven children of António José Gomes, (Santo Estevão, Chaves, ? – Lisbon, 1 July 1922) and wife, Idalina Júlia Monteiro da Costa (Chaves, 27 May 1880 – Porto, 18 February 1967).
On 8 December 1952, Gomes married Maria Estela Veloso de Antas Varajão (born 23 March 1927 in Viana do Castelo), daughter of João de Campos Varajão and his wife Angélica Martins Veloso (b. Barcelos, Barcelos), at the See of Viana do Castelo. The couple had only one son, Francisco da Costa Gomes.
In 1961 Costa Gomes, acting as under-secretary of state for the Army, was involved in a constitutional "coup d'état" headed by the Minister of Defense, General Júlio Botelho Moniz, that tried to convince President Américo Tomás to remove an aged António de Oliveira Salazar from the premiership.
In 1970 he occupied the post of Commander of the Military Region of Angola, where he overhauled the chief-command and was the first to try to establish a military agreement with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) against the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA).
On 12 September 1972 he was called back to Portugal to occupy the post of Chief of the Armed Forces—replacing General —but he was replaced in March 1974, a few weeks before the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, because he had refused to swear his loyalty to the President of the Council of Ministers Marcello Caetano in a public ceremony.
After the Revolution he was one of the seven military leaders who made up the National Salvation Junta. Between 25 April and 30 September he was the second-in-command of the Portuguese state, behind António de Spínola.
He assumed the Presidency of the Republic when named by the Junta after the resignation of Spínola on 30 September 1974, and occupied the post until 27 June 1976 when, in the first Presidential election, the Portuguese chose General Ramalho Eanes to succeed him. He received an honorary promotion to Field Marshal in 1982.
Personal[]
Gomes was one of eleven children of António José Gomes (Chaves, Santo Estêvão – Lisbon, Socorro, 1 July 1922) and wife (m. Chaves, 17 January 1901) and wife Idalina Júlia Monteiro da Costa (Chaves, 27 May 1880 – Porto, 18 February 1967).
References[]
![]() | This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (December 2016) |
Sources[]
- Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril da Universidade de Coimbra (2014). Costa Gomes, O Último Marechal [Costa Gomes the last Marshall] (in Portuguese). Lisbon: D. Quixote. ISBN 978-972-20-5518-5. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- Rodrigues, Luís Nuno (2008). Marechal Costa Gomes, No centro da tempestade [Marshall Costa Gomes, in the epicenter of the storm] (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Esfera dos Livros. ISBN 978-989-626-103-0.
- "Costa Gomes". Presidency of the Portuguese Republic. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
See also[]
- List of Presidents of Portugal
- Estado Novo (Portugal)
- History of Portugal
- Timeline of Portuguese history
- Politics of Portugal
- 1914 births
- 2001 deaths
- People from Chaves, Portugal
- Portuguese Roman Catholics
- Presidents of Portugal
- Field marshals of Portugal
- University of Porto alumni
- 20th-century Portuguese politicians