Hermínio Paiva Fernandes Martinho ComMA (born 23 March 1946) is a Portuguese

agricultural engineer Agricultural engineering, also known as agricultural and biosystems engineering, is the field of study and application of engineering science and designs principles for agriculture purposes, combining the various disciplines of mechanical enginee ...

and politician, who was the first president of the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD).

Early life

Hermínio Martinho was born on 23 March 1946 in

Tancos Tancos is a Portuguese ''freguesia'' ("civil parish"), located in the municipality of Vila Nova da Barquinha. The population in 2011 was 243,Vila Nova da Barquinha Vila Nova da Barquinha () is a municipality in the district of Santarém in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 7,322, in an area of 49.53 km². The village of Vila Nova da Barquinha, which is the seat of the municipality, has about 3500 inh ...

, in the district of Santarém. He studied and did his military service in Santarém.

Political career

Between 1979 and 1982, Martinho was an alderman in the Municipality of Santarém for the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. In July 1985, Martinho was elected the first President of newly formed Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), a party that had the political support and mentoring of

António Ramalho Eanes António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes, GColL GCL GColTE CavA GCB RVC (; born 25 January 1935) is a Portuguese general and politician who was the 16th president of Portugal from 1976 to 1986. Background Born at Alcains, Castelo Branco, he is ...

, then

President of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic ( pt, Presidente da República Portuguesa, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, an ...

. In the 1985 Portuguese legislative election, under Martinho's leadership, the PRD achieved more than a million votes and won 45 seats in the Assembly of the Republic, making PRD the third political force in Portugal. Martinho was a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic between 1985 and 1991. In 1986, after Ramalho Eanes ended his term as

, Martinho formally invited Ramalho Eanes to be the President of the PRD, giving up his position. Following the disastrous results in the

1987 Portuguese legislative election The 1987 Portuguese legislative election took place on 19 July. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic. In the previous election, in 1985, the Social Democratic Party had won a minority government managing to surviv ...

, Ramalho Eanes resigned and Martinho was again elected President of the PRD in May 1988. In 1990 he resigned from his position after the party's bad results in the local election in 1989. Between 1997 and 2001, Martinho was again elected alderman in the Municipality of Santarém, this time for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

Awards and honors

POR_Ordem_do_Merito_Agricola_Comendador_BAR

Portugal: Commander of the

Order of Entrepreneurial Merit The Order of Entrepreneurial Merit ( pt, Ordem do Mérito Empresarial) is the most junior of the Portugal, Portuguese civil orders of merit, and is intended to distinguish those who have rendered, as an entrepreneur or worker, outstanding service i ...

(Agricultural Merit) (1983) * Commendatore_OMRI_BAR

Italy: Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(1990) *

Ordre_de_l'Ouissam_Alaouite_Commandeur_ribbon_(Maroc)

Morocco: Commander of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(1992)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinho, Hermínio 20th-century Portuguese politicians 1946 births Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal) politicians People from Santarém District Portuguese politicians Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians Living people