Francisco Xavier do Amaral

Francisco Xavier do Amaral (3 December 1937 – 6 March 2012) was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975. He was a member of the National Parliament for the Timorese Social Democratic Association from 2001 until his death in 2012. Amaral was also known as "Abo (Grandfather) Xavier", a term of endearment, by East Timorese. Amaral was a descendant of kings who ruled what is now the south-central Manufahi District of East Timor. The pair had no children, and Amaral never remarried.

President of East Timor

Amaral founded the Timorese Social Democratic Association in the early 1970s. taking fourth place with 14.39% of the vote in the first round. Another of Amaral's friends, Jose Ramos Horta, won the second round and was elected president. he was given a state funeral and buried at the in Dili.

Legacy

On 20 May 2017, for the 15th anniversary of the restoration of East Timor's independence, a statue of Francisco Amaral was inaugurated in Dili, at the roundabout near the Convention Center.