Vasco Fernando Leote de Almeida e Costa, GCIH, GCL (25 July 1932 – 26 July 2010) was a Portuguese

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and politician.

Biography

He served as Minister of Internal Administration during

José Pinheiro de Azevedo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

's government, between 19 September 1975 and 23 July 1976. He also had an important role during the Portuguese decolonization period. From 23 June 1976 he became interim

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

after Pinheiro de Azevedo suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

during his presidential campaign. He remained the 106th Prime Minister of Portugal as an interim official for the rest of Pinheiro de Azevedo's mandate, when he was substituted by the democratically elected Mário Soares. He was also the 134th Governor of Macau from 16 June 1981 to 15 May 1986. His reign in the colony was marked by considerable infrastructure development. Costa's decision to dissolve the local Legislative Assembly amid intensified power struggle with the local Macanese community was a major political crisis at that time. To balance the predominant Macanese legislature, he proposed electoral reform that empowered the Chinese business community and elites. During his tenure, Costa twice threatened to pull out of Macao unilaterally amid tense debate on the year of Handover. He was the son of Américo de Almeida e Costa and wife Julieta da Conceição Leote and married in

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 88,725, in an area of 319.02 km². The urbanized area of the municipality, comprising the city, ...

, Meadela, at the Chapel of São Vicente, on 11 January 1959 to Maria Claudiana da Costa de Faria Araújo (b. Viana do Castelo, Meadela, House of o Ameal, 17 May 1935), one of the fourteen children of a couple of Northern Portuguese Nobility, and by whom he had issue. He died just 1 day after his birthday and was cremated 1 week later.

References

, - 1932 births 2010 deaths People from Lisbon Prime Ministers of Portugal Governors of Macau {{Macau-bio-stub