João do Canto e Castro da Silva Antunes (19 May 1862, in

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 ...

– 14 March 1934, in Lisbon), commonly known simply as João do Canto e Castro was a Portuguese Navy officer and the fifth

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 ...

during the

First Portuguese Republic The First Portuguese Republic (; officially: ''República Portuguesa'', Portuguese Republic) spans a complex 16-year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the History of Portugal (1834-1910), period of constitutional monarchy ma ...

. He also briefly served as the 67th

prime minister of Portugal The prime minister of Portugal (; ) is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to Ass ...

Early life

He was the son of General José Ricardo da Costa da Silva Antunes (Lisbon, 7 February 1831 – 7 August 1906) and wife (m. 1860) Maria da Conceição do Canto e Castro Mascarenhas Valdez (24 October 1825 – Lisbon, 20 April 1892). In 1891 he married Mariana de Santo António Moreira Freire Correia Manoel Torres de Aboim (

, 13 June 1865 – 18 January 1946), sister of the 1st Viscount da Idanha and niece of the 1st Viscount de Vila Boim, and had issue.

Career

He occupied the post of Navy Minister, to which he had been appointed by

Sidónio Pais Sidónio Bernardino Cardoso da Silva Pais (1 May 1872 – 14 December 1918) nicknamed "the President-King" (), was the 4th president of Portugal, serving in 1918. A Portuguese people, Portuguese politician, Officer (armed forces), militar ...

, the "''President-King''" on 9 September 1918, and succeeded Pais after his murder on 14 December 1918. During his rule there were two attempts to carry out a

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. The first one, in Santarém, in December 1918, was led by the republicans Francisco da Cunha Leal and Álvaro Xavier de Castro. The second one was monarchist and was perpetrated in January 1919 and organized by Paiva Couceiro, who for some time managed to control the northern part of the country in what was called the

Monarchy of the North The Monarchy of the North (), officially the Kingdom of Portugal (), was a short-lived counter-revolution against the First Portuguese Republic and a monarchist government that was established in Northern Portugal in early 1919. It was based i ...

. Although Canto e Castro was a monarchist, as President of the Republic he had to fight against a movement that defended his own ideals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canto E Castro, Joao Do 1862 births 1934 deaths Naval ministers of Portugal Military personnel from Lisbon Presidents of Portugal Prime ministers of Portugal Portuguese admirals Portuguese monarchists 19th-century Portuguese people 20th-century Portuguese politicians 20th-century presidents in Europe

Early life

Career

See also

References