Nuno Xavier Daniel Dias

Nuno Xavier Daniel Dias (13 September 1940 – June 1976) was a São Toméan aerospace engineer and politician who served as the first President of the Constituent Assembly after the country's independence from Portugal. He was one of two signatories of the treaty in July 1975 that established São Tomé and Príncipe as an independent nation.

Biography Xavier was born on 13 September 1940, in the village of Trindade, on São Tomé Island. He was by profession an aerospace engineer and he worked with the Portuguese Air Force, as São Tomé and Príncipe was at the time a colony of Portugal. He held the distinction of being the first pilot from São Tomé.

Xavier lived for a time in Portugal before returning to São Tomé, where he was an important figure in developing infrastructure. He served in the government as Minister of International Coordination and was the first São Toméan to have the position of head of the country's Civil Aeronautics Service. However, in June 1976, (Sources conflict on whether it was 8 June or 11 June.) He was 35 at the time of his death. A 2011 book on São Tomé and Príncipe's history described Xavier as a "charismatic figure of the people of [São Tomé and Príncipe]" and a "National Hero". On the 47th anniversary of independence, in July 2022, the São Tomé International Airport was renamed in his honour.