Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA (; 30 June 1914 – 31 July 2001) was a Portuguese

military 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 A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

, the 15th

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 ...

(the second 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 ...

Life

He was one of the eleven children of António José Gomes, (Santo Estevão, Chaves, ? –

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. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, 1 July 1922) and wife, Idalina Júlia Monteiro da Costa ( Chaves, 27 May 1880 –

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

, 18 February 1967). On 8 December 1952, Gomes married Maria Estela Veloso de Antas Varajão (born 23 March 1927 in Viana do Castelo), daughter of João de Campos Varajão and his wife Angélica Martins Veloso (b. Barcelos, Barcelos), at the See of Viana do Castelo. The couple had only one son, Francisco da Costa Gomes. In 1961 Costa Gomes, acting as under-secretary of state for the Army, was involved in a constitutional "coup d'état" headed by the Minister of Defense, General

Júlio Botelho Moniz Júlio Carlos Alves Dias Botelho Moniz (Lisbon, 12 October 1900 – Lisbon, 30 September 1970) was a Portuguese soldier and politician. Botelho Moniz owed his political and military career (Minister of the Interior and of Defence, Chief General of ...

, that tried to convince President

Américo Tomás Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás (; 19 November 1894 – 18 September 1987) was a Portuguese Navy officer and politician who served as the 13th president of Portugal from 1958 to 1974. Biography Early life Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tom ...

to remove an aged

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...

from the premiership. In 1970 he occupied the post of Commander of the Military Region of

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

, where he overhauled the chief-command and was the first to try to establish a military agreement with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

) against the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social dem ...

) and the

National Liberation Front of Angola The National Front for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independe ...

(FNLA). On 12 September 1972 he was called back to Portugal to occupy the post of Chief of the Armed Forces—replacing General Venâncio Deslandes—but he was replaced in March 1974, a few weeks before the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, because he had refused to swear his loyalty to the President of the Council of Ministers

Marcello Caetano Marcelo José das Neves Alves Caetano (; 17 August 1906 – 26 October 1980) was a Portuguese politician and scholar. He was the second and last leader of the Estado Novo after succeeding António Salazar. He served as prime minister from 196 ...

in a public ceremony. After the Revolution he was one of the seven military leaders who made up the National Salvation Junta. Between 25 April and 30 September he was the second-in-command of the Portuguese state, behind

António de Spínola António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (generally referred to as António de Spínola, ;This surname, however, was not accompanied by the grammatical nobiliary particle "de". 11 April 1910 – 13 August 1996) was a Portuguese military of ...

. He assumed the Presidency of the Republic when named by the Junta after the resignation of Spínola on 30 September 1974, and occupied the post until 27 June 1976 when, in the first Presidential election, the Portuguese chose General Ramalho Eanes to succeed him. He received an honorary promotion to

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

in 1982.

Personal

Gomes was one of eleven children of António José Gomes ( Chaves, Santo Estêvão –

, Socorro, 1 July 1922) and wife (m. Chaves, 17 January 1901) and wife Idalina Júlia Monteiro da Costa ( Chaves, 27 May 1880 –

, 18 February 1967).

References

Sources

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Life

Personal

References

Sources

See also