Diogo de Freitas do Amaral

Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019) was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 to 3 July 2006. He also served briefly as Prime Minister in an interim capacity in the early 1980s, after the death of Francisco de Sá Carneiro.

Background He was born in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, the third but first surviving son of Duarte de Freitas do Amaral and wife Maria Filomena de Campos Trocado, and the older brother of João de Freitas do Amaral.

Career He was a Licentiate and a Doctorate in Law specialised in Administrative Law and Political Science from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, and a Cathedratic Professor in the Faculty of Law at the New University of Lisbon and also a publicist.

He served as a professor in the Faculty of Law of the Lusófona University of Lisbon, where he taught and governed as the chair of the Economics of Public Law in Law degree, developing other teaching activities in the same college. In 1974, some months after the Carnation Revolution, he was one of the Founders and President of then Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), a Christian democratic party. He led this party till 1985, and again from 1988 to 1991. He served as a Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic (the Portuguese parliament) from 1975 to 1982 or 1983, and again in 1992 and 1993.

He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State (1974–1982).

In the parliamentary elections of 1979 and 1980, the Democratic Alliance (of which the CDS was a part) won a majority and formed the government, in which Freitas served as Deputy Prime Minister or Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1980 and Deputy Prime Minister or Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister of Defence between 1981 and 1983. After the death of Francisco Sá Carneiro, Freitas do Amaral was interim Prime Minister for a short period between 1980 and 1981. Between 1981 and 1982 he was also the President of the European People's Party.

He was a candidate in 1985 for the presidency in the 1986 presidential election. Supported by his own People's Party and by the Social Democratic Party, he established a commanding lead in the first round, but lost the second round by some 150,000 votes to Mário Soares, who was endorsed by the two eliminated candidates.

He was President of the United Nations General Assembly (1995–1996).

A European federalist, he left the party he founded, disagreeing mainly with the Eurosceptic line followed by Manuel Monteiro and Paulo Portas.

Always seen as a right-winger, Freitas do Amaral supported the Social Democratic Party in the parliamentary election of 2002. However, disappointed with the government performance, and critical of its support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Freitas do Amaral surprised many observers by announcing his support for the Socialist Party in the 2005 election. He was subsequently nominated for Minister of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the XVII Constitutional Government, led by the Socialist leader José Sócrates. He resigned after a little over one year in office, citing health reasons and, as revealed to a newspaper, tiredness resulting from the many diplomatic trips taken.

He was also a Juridical Consultant of many companies.

He authored a biography of King Afonso I and a play about Viriatus.

He also published a study of the actuality and reform of the prison system in Portugal.

Honours

Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (3 November 1980) On 3 October 2019, it was announced that Freitas do Amaral had died.

Electoral history

Constituent Assembly, 1975

Candidate Votes

Legislative election, 1976

Candidate Votes

Presidential election, 1986

Votes

Votes

CDS leadership election, 1988

Legislative election, 1991

Candidate Votes

Ancestors