José Manuel de Medeiros Ferreira (20 February 1942 – 18 March 2014) was a Portuguese politician,

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He served as Minister of International Negotiations from 1976 to 1977 and was a long-time member of the Portuguese parliament. He also served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for the second term from 1986 to 1989.

Biography

He was born in

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

, Portugal. He studied history at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

. In the 1960s, he participated in student protests and opposition activities, which led to his expulsion from the university with a ban on studying in Portugal. In 1968, he emigrated to Switzerland. He eventually completed his studies at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

in 1972 and obtained a doctorate in political and institutional history from the

Universidade Nova de Lisboa NOVA University Lisbon (, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital city, earning its name as the " ...

in 1991. From 1972 to 1974, he taught at the University of Geneva and later became a professor at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, specializing in contemporary history and international relations. He also taught at the

University of the Azores The University of the Azores (Portuguese: ''Universidade dos Açores''), or commonly abbreviated as ''UAc'', is the only public university in the Autonomous Region of the Azores. It was founded on January 9, 1976, two years after the Carnation Re ...

. He authored scientific publications and other books and appeared as a television commentator. He became involved in the activities of 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 ...

. He was elected to the Constitutional Assembly in 1975, 1976, and 1979, and subsequently to the Assembly of the Republic for several terms. From September 1975 to July 1976, he served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the government of Jose Batista Pinheiro de Azevedo, and then as Minister of International Negotiations in the first government of Mario Soares, leaving office after a conflict with the Prime Minister. In 1979, he belonged to the right-wing faction of the PS called Reformadores, dissolved in 1985. In the same year, he joined the Democratic Renewal Party and returned to the Assembly of the Republic for its fourth term. From January 1986 to September 1987, he served as a Member of the European Parliament. He was re-elected in the general elections in 1987 as the only representative of PRD, but soon left the party. From January 1986 to November 1987, he was vice-president of the European Democratic Alliance, then joined the Socialist faction. He later rejoined the Socialist Party and served in the parliament from 1995 to 2005. Additionally, from 1996 to 2005, he was a member of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

. In 2006, he stepped down from leadership positions in the Socialist Party.

Personal life

He was married to Maria Emília Brederode Santos since 1973, the daughter of politician Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos, with whom he had a son. In 1980, he participated in a meeting of the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally ...

Awards

He was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

in 1981 and the Grand Cross of the

Order of Liberty The Order of Liberty, or the Order of Freedom (), is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human dignity. The order was cr ...

in 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medeiros Ferreira, José University of Geneva alumni Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) 1942 births 2014 deaths Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Government ministers of Portugal Portuguese political scientists 20th-century Portuguese historians Members of the European Parliament for Portugal Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians Swiss academics