Jorge Coelho GCIH (17 July 1954 – 7 April 2021) was a Portuguese politician.

Early life and education

He was born at 9.30pm in the maternity ward of Viseu Hospital, to Jorge Francisco Almeida Coelho, 30 and his wife Rosa Sacadura de Almeida, 26, both from Mangualde and who live in Contenças, Mangualde. Paternal grandson of Raul de Abrantes Coelho and his wife Isaura de Almeida and maternal grandson of José Domingos de Almeida and his wife Maria Elisa Sacadura. Raised in Contenças, in the municipality of Mangualde, he studied at the ''Colégio de Santa Maria e São José'' in that town. His paternal grandfather, Raul de Abrantes Coelho, a supporter of the Estado Novo, was even on the National Union list. An engineering student at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

, he was a member of the extreme left before and after the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

. After the Revolution he was one of the founding members of the Popular Democratic Union. He then became active in 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 ...

, led by Mário Soares. He was civilly married at the 10th Civil Registry Office in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

on 22 August 1975 to Fortunata Cecília Fernandes da Silva Seixas. He was a member of the Electoral Process Support Secretariat (''STAPE, Secretariado de Apoio ao Processo Eleitoral''), which he combined with his academic studies in

, studying for a degree in Business Organisation and Management at the Higher Institute of Economic and Financial Sciences of the Technical University of Lisbon.

Political career

He joined the

in 1982. That same year, he was appointed chief of staff to the Secretary of State for Transport in the 9th Constitutional Government of Portugal, Francisco Murteira Nabo (1983–1985). His next executive experience was in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, where he was head of the office of the Macao Deputy Secretary of State for Social Affairs, Education and Youth (1988–1989) and, now in government in the same region, as Deputy Secretary for Education and Public Administration (1989–1991). After returning to Portugal, he was the Socialist "machine man". Very close to

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Socia ...

, he played an active role in Guterres' election as secretary-general of the

, in elections won over Jorge Sampaio. He then managed the entire structure that mounted the

's successful electoral campaign in the legislative elections of 1995. In the first government led by

, the 13th Constitutional Government of Portugal, which took office on 28 October 1995, he became deputy minister. In the reshuffle of 25 November 1997, he became

Minister of Internal Administration The Ministry of Internal Administration ( pt, Ministério da Administração Interna or ''MAI''), is the Portuguese government ministry responsible for the public security, the civil defense, the electoral administration, the road traffic safety a ...

. One of the initiatives he took as deputy minister was the creation of the Citizen's Shop. Together with his Secretary of State for Public Administration,

Fausto Correia Fausto de Sousa Correia (October 29, 1951 – 9 October 2007) was a Portuguese politician, deputy of the Portuguese Parliament, and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Socialist Party; part of the Party of European Socialists. Biogra ...

, he launched the concept of the Citizen's Shop in Portugal, a service centre for various public entities, bringing together and connecting services in a single space. In the legislative elections that followed, on 10 October 1999, the

(PS) won again (with

as leader of the PS and

Durão Barroso Durão is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Joaquim Durão (1930–2015), Portuguese chess player * Nuno Durão (born 1962), Portuguese rugby union footballer and coach *Santa Rita Durão José de Santa Rita Durão (1722–178 ...

as leader of the PSD) with the unusual situation of reaching 115 deputies, exactly half the number of deputies in the Assembly of the Republic, just one off from an absolute majority. Also in these elections, Jorge Coelho took on the role of leading the organisation of the electoral campaign. In the 14th Constitutional Government of Portugal, after the 1999 legislative elections, he took up the posts of Minister of the Presidency and Minister of Social Infrastructure (Public Works). In the reshuffle of 14 September 2000, he retained the post of Minister of Social Infrastructure and left the post of Minister of the Presidency to become

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

. Following the collapse of the Hintze Ribeiro Bridge in Entre-os-Rios,

Castelo de Paiva Castelo de Paiva () is a town and a municipality of the Aveiro District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 16,733, in an area of 115.01 km2. On 4 March 2001 at 9 pm, a 116-year-old metal bridge linking the parish/council of Sobrado (a.k ...

, on 4 March 2001, in which 59 people died, he resigned from the government, "taking political responsibility" for the accident and that "it wouldn't sit well with my conscience if I didn't". His last decision in office was to call for an enquiry because "guilt cannot die alone". On 10 March 2001, he was replaced by Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues as Minister of Social Infrastructure. After leaving the government, he continued to play a central role in the PS and also coordinated the electoral campaign for the legislative elections on 20 February 2005, in which the PS won its first absolute majority, and also for the local elections in October 2005. In November 2006, he resigned as a member of parliament and gave up all party posts to devote himself to his professional activity.

Post-political career

He was a director of CONGETMARK, a guest lecturer in Public and Political Communication at the ''Instituto Superior de Comunicação Empresarial (ISCEM)'' and a consultant. During this period, he held only one public office, that of

Counsellor of State Counsellors of State are senior members of the British royal family to whom the monarch can delegate and revoke royal functions through letters patent under the Great Seal, to prevent delay or difficulty in the dispatch of public business in t ...

, elected by the Assembly of the Republicin 2005. On 15 June 2009, following a request made in 2008, he was replaced on the Council of State by José Gomes Canotilho. He resigned as a member of the Council of State in 2008 when he was invited to become CEO of the

Mota-Engil Mota-Engil is a Portugal, Portuguese group in the sectors of civil construction, public works, port operations, waste, water, and logistics. The chairman of the board of directors is António Mota and Gonçalo Moura Martins is the company's CEO. ...

Group. Previously, he carried out the group's strategic plan between 2009 and 2013 for the Group, called "Ambição 2013" (Ambition 2013). In 2016, he founded Queijaria Vale da Estrela, located in Mangualde, very close to Contenças, where he grew up. The company produces

Serra da Estrela cheese Serra da Estrela cheese (''Queijo Serra da Estrela'') is a cheese made in the mountainous region of Serra da Estrela in Portugal. Under the name "Queijo Serra da Estrela" it is a Protected designation of origin (PDO) in the European Union as well ...

and, according to the press, has formalised agreements with the SONAE, Jerónimo Martins and El Corte Inglés groups, once the

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

certification process has been completed. When he took up this post, he also stopped being a commentator on the ''Quadratura do Círculo'' programme on SIC Notícias. Later, in March 2013, he returned to being a commentator on the same programme on the same channel. When the programme changed its name to ''Circulatura do Quadrado'' and its channel to

TVI24 CNN Portugal is a Portuguese basic cable and satellite television news channel owned by Media Capital, launched on 26 February 2009 as TVI 24, the 24-hour news channel of the terrestrial network Televisão Independente. The network's name was ...

in February 2019, he remained a commentator until July 2020, having been replaced by

Ana Catarina Mendes Ana Catarina Mendes (born 1973) is a Portuguese politician. As a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) she has been a deputy in the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic since 1995 and, from 2019, led the party in the National Assembly. I ...

from September 2020. Before joining

' government in 1995, according to the tax return submitted to the Constitutional Court, he had a gross income of €41,233 and in 2009, three years after resigning from all political and party positions, he had an annual income of €702,758. According to the

Expresso Expresso may refer to: * Espresso, a coffee beverage * eXpresso, a hosted workspace for Microsoft Office communities * Expresso (Donkey Kong), a character in the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series * ''Expresso'' (newspaper), based in Lisbon, Portug ...

newspaper, he was a member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, particularly the Lusitanian Grand Orient, from which he had withdrawn in the last years of his life.

Death

He died on 7 April 2021, following sudden cardiac arrest while visiting a house in the tourist area of

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, west ...

Honours

National honours

PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

(13 May 2021, posthumously) Resultado da busca de "Jorge Paulo Sacadura Almeida Coelho".

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Rio Branco The Order of Rio Branco (''Ordem de Rio Branco'') is an honorific order of Brazil instituted by decree 51.697 of February 5, 1963. It is named in honor of the Brazilian diplomat José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco. The President of Brazil serves ...

(21 May 1999) Resultado da busca de "Jorge Paulo Sacadura Almeida Coelho". * : Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (26 September 2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coelho, Jorge 1954 births 2021 deaths Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Mangualde Members of the 5th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 6th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 7th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 8th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 9th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 10th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Portuguese academics Portuguese businesspeople Portuguese Freemasons Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians University of Coimbra alumni Viseu