António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (; 11 April 1910 – 13 August 1996) was a Portuguese
military officer, author and conservative politician. During the
Estado Novo he became one of the most senior military commanders, leading military operations against independence movements. After the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...
organised by under-ranked military captains, he was invited to be the first
President of Portugal
The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal.
The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister ...
. His role in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
's transition to democracy was polemic, particularly regarding his role in leading the
11 March 1975 attempted coup and the terrorist organisation ''
Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal'' (Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal). He was noted for wearing a
monocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens placed in front of the eye and held in place by the eye socket itself. Often, to avoid losing the monoc ...
on his right eye.
Early life
Spínola was born in Santo André,
Estremoz in 1910 to
António Sebastião Spínola and his first wife Maria Gabriela Alves Ribeiro, both natives of
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
.
Career
Spínola entered the
Colégio Militar in 1920, beginning what would be a very successful military career. By 1928, Spínola was at Portugal's
Military Academy, where he stood out as a young and promising cavalry officer.
In Anjos,
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, by August 1932, he married Maria Helena Martin Monteiro de Barros (14 January 1913 – 23 May 2002), daughter of João de Azevedo Monteiro de Barros and his German wife Gertrud Elisabete Martin.
In 1939, he became adjunct-de-camp of the
Guarda Nacional Republicana
The National Republican Guard () or GNR is the national gendarmerie force of Portugal.
Members of the GNR are military personnel, subject to military law and organisation, unlike the agents of the civilian Public Security Police (PSP).
The GN ...
(''Republican National Guard''). In 1941 he travelled to the German-Russian Front, as an observer, to monitor
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
movements during the encirclement of
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
(the Portuguese volunteers had been incorporated into the
Blue Division).
In 1961, guided by
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese statesman, academic, and economist who served as Portugal's President of the Council of Ministers of Portugal, President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1 ...
, he offered himself for voluntary service in the Portuguese colonies of West Africa. Between 1961 and 1963, he held the command of the 345th Cavalry Battalion in
Portuguese Angola
In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...
, distinguishing himself and his unit. At the end of his tenure, he was appointed for, and served as, the
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...
from 1968, and again in 1972, during the period of the
Overseas War, where his administration favoured a policy of respect for ethnic Guineans and the traditional authorities. At the same time, he continued to practice a range of initiatives in the War, from clandestine meetings (he met secretly with the President of
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
,
Léopold Sédar Senghor, at one point) to armed incursions to neighbouring states (such as
Operation Green Sea, which saw the assault by
Portuguese Army Commandos into
Conakry
Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.
The current population of C ...
,
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
).
In November 1973, he returned to Lisbon, on the invitation of Salazar's successor,
Marcello Caetano
Marcello is a common masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Marcellus. The Spanish and Portuguese version of the name is Marcelo, differing in having only one "l", while the Greek form is Markellos.
Etymology
The name originally mea ...
, to head the Overseas portfolio: which he refused, due to the government's intransigence on the Portuguese colonies. A month later, on 17 January 1974, he was asked to be the Vice-Chief of the Defence Council of the Armed Forces, on the advice of
Francisco da Costa Gomes, a post that he would be removed from in March. Shortly later, he would publish ''Portugal e o Futuro'' (''Portugal and the Future''), where he expressed the idea that the only solution to the Colonial Wars was the discontinuation of the conflict.
Carnation Revolution
On 25 April 1974, as a general in the
MFA (Movimento das Forças Armadas or Armed Forces Movement), he received from the President of the Council of Ministers, Marcello Caetano, the rendition of the Government, which was in refuge in the Carmo Barracks. Although General Spínola did not play an important role, Marcelo Caetano insisted he would only surrender power to Spínola. This allowed Spínola to assume an important public place as a leader of the revolution, although that was not what the MFA originally intended. The formation of the
National Salvation Junta, formed in the days following the Carnation Revolution, allowed Spínola to take on the role of President of the Republic.
Spínola met with
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...
, the
President of Zaire
This is a list of President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo and Zaire) since the country's independence in 1 ...
,
Hilgard Muller, South African Foreign Minister, and
Hugo Biermann, South African Defence Chief, on 15 September 1974, on
Sal Island in the
Portuguese Cape Verde
Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975.
History
15th century
The islands of Cape Verde were discovered in 1460-62 by Pri ...
, crafting a plan to empower
Holden Roberto of the
National Liberation Front of Angola
The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence, under the leadership of Holden Roberto.
F ...
,
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Sidónio Sakaita Savimbi (; 3 August 1934 – 22 February 2002) was an Angolan revolutionary, politician, and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( UNITA). UNITA was on ...
of
UNITA, and
Daniel Chipenda leader of the
MPLA
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...
's eastern faction (a rival of MPLA leader
Agostinho Neto
António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan Communism, communist politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the MPLA, Popular Movement for the Liberation of ...
) while retaining the façade of national unity; Mobutu, the South Africans, and Spínola wanted to diminish Neto's importance and present Chipenda as the MPLA leader (Mobutu particularly preferring Chipenda to Neto because Chipenda supported autonomy for the province of
Cabinda, an Angolan
exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
surrounded by Zaire and the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
, and Neto did not). The group also relied on the immense petroleum reserves of the province, estimated at around 300 million tons, which the Mobutu government required for economic survival.
[Erik P. Hoffmann and Frederic J. Fleron. ''The Conduct of Soviet Foreign Policy'', 1980. Page 524.]
Exile and death
Spínola lasted as the first post-Revolution President from 15 May 1974 until 30 September of the same year, to be substituted by General
Francisco da Costa Gomes. His resignation was partly due to what he saw as the profound move to the political left, their effects on the military and the independence of the Portuguese colonies. Discontent over these changes, he tried to intervene politically to mitigate the agenda of the MFA. He resigned fifteen days later on 30 September 1974, after just four months in power, when he realized he would not be able to block the application of the MFA program.
[Nataf, Daniel. ''Democratization and Social Settlements: The Politics of Change in Contemporary Portugal'', 1995. Page 14.]
His appeals to the ''maioria silenciosa'' (″
silent majority
The silent majority is an unspecified large group of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly. The term was popularized by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised address on November 3, 1969, in which he said, "A ...
″), to resist the political radicalization of the left after the failed
coup of 28 September 1974, and his tentative involvement in the rightist counter-revolution on 11 March 1975 (wherein he fled to Brazil)
[Yossi Shain and Juan José Linz. ''Between States: Interim Governments and Democratic Transitions'', 1995. Page 149.] were examples that Spínola had changed his allegiances. As the author
Günter Wallraff wrote in his book ''Aufdeckung einer Verschwörung – die Spínola-Aktion'' (″Revealing a conspiracy – the Spínola operation″), Spínola was always interested in returning to power and eliminating his political adversaries. During Spínola's exile to Brazil, he was approached by Wallraff who had infiltrated Spínola's group, pretending to be an arms dealer working for
Franz-Josef Strauss, a conservative and leader of the
Christian Social Union in Bavaria. Spínola's group was the ''MDLP – '' (″Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal″) an anti-communist network of terrorist bombers, responsible for the death of a priest, whose operatives included Carlos Paixão, Alfredo Vitorino, Valter dos Santos and Alcides Pereira. As their leader, Spínola had met with Wallraff to negotiate the purchase of arms and had supporters in the
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" ().
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...
who awaited the word to regain power (which Wallraff submitted as proof in order to detain Spínola by Swiss authorities). But there was never enough proof to charge him or his conspirators in court.
But even his extreme swing would not affect his importance in the Carnation Revolution. In 1981 Spínola was promoted to the highest rank in the Army, Field Marshal. His prestige would be rehabilitated officially on 5 February 1987 by President
Mário Soares
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...
, who bestowed on him the ''Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada'' (Grand Cross of the
Order of the Tower and Sword), for:
:''... his heroic military and civic service and for being a symbol of the April Revolution and first President of the Republic after the dictatorship ...''
On 13 August 1996, aged 86, Spínola died in Lisbon from a
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...
.
In the 2000 film ''
Capitães de Abril
''April Captains'' () is a 2000 film telling the story of the Carnation Revolution, the military coup that overthrew the corporatist dictatorship (known as the ''Estado Novo'') in Portugal on 25 April 1974. Although dramatised, the plot is cl ...
'', Spínola is played by the actor Ruy de Carvalho.
The mayor of the city of
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
António Costa
António Luís Santos da Costa (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who has served as President of the European Council since 2024. He previously served as the 118th prime minister of Portugal from 2015 to 2024 and th ...
, marked the 100 years since António de Spínola's birth in a ceremony attended by President
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as the 19th president of Portugal, from 9 March 2006 to 9 March 2016, and as prime minister of Portugal, from 6 November 1985 to 25 October ...
, which included the presentation of a plaque and naming of a new avenue in the capital.
Honours
National
* Grand Cross of the
Order of Liberty (GCL, 5 July 2023)''(posthumously)''
*

Grand Master and Grand Cross of the
Sash of the Three Orders (BTO, 15 May 1974 30 September 1974)
*

Grand Cross of the
Military Order of the Tower and Sword (GCTE, 13 February 1987)
*

Grand Officer of the
Military Order of the Tower and Sword (GOTE, 6 July 1973)
*

Commander of the
Order of Aviz
The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...
(ComA, 16 May 1959)
*

Officer of the
Order of Aviz
The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...
(OA, 23 January 1948)
Foreign
*:
**Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OYC) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Charles III (established in 1771) and ...
(14 December 1987)
**Grand Cross (White Decoration) of the
Cross of Military Merit (16 May 1947)
Published works
* ''Por Uma Guiné Melhor'' (1970)
* ''Linha de Acção'' (1971)
* ''No Caminho do Futuro'' (1972)
* ''Por Uma Portugalidade Renovada'' (1973)
* ''Portugal e o Futuro'' (1974)
* ''Ao Serviço de Portugal'' (1976)
* ''País sem Rumo'' (1978)
Notes
References
Sources
* ''Fotobiografias do Século XX'', Photobiography of António de Spínola, Círculo de Leitores.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinola, Antonio De
1910 births
1996 deaths
People from Estremoz
Leaders who took power by coup
Presidents of Portugal
People of the Carnation Revolution
Mozambican War of Independence
Field marshals of Portugal
Portuguese Roman Catholics
Portuguese exiles
Governors of Portuguese Guinea
20th-century Portuguese politicians
Portuguese revolutionaries
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword
20th-century presidents in Europe
Deaths from pulmonary embolism