Portuguese president and politician
Antonio Oscar de Fragoso Carmona
ComA
ComSE
ComC
GCA
(
Portuguese pronunciation:
[???t?niu
???ka?
f????ozu
ka??mon?]
; 24 November 1869 ? 18 April 1951) was a
Portuguese Army
officer and politician who served as
prime minister of Portugal
from 1926 to 1928 and as the 11th
president of Portugal
from 1926 until his death in 1951. He also served as the
Minister of War
, in late 1923 and in 1926, and as a
Minister of Foreign Affairs
in 1926.
Political origin
[
edit
]
Carmona was a republican and a
freemason
and was a quick adherent to the proclamation of the
Portuguese First Republic
on
5 October 1910
. He was, however, never a sympathizer of the democratic form of government, and ? as he would later confess in an interview to
Antonio Ferro
? he only voted for the first time at the
1933 constitutional referendum
. During the First Republic, he briefly served as Minister of War in the cabinet of
Antonio Ginestal Machado
in 1923. Unlike the popular marshal
Gomes da Costa
, Carmona had not seen action in
World War I
.
Presidency
[
edit
]
Carmona was very active in the
28 May 1926 coup d'etat
that overthrew the First Republic. The first Council President, the commandant
Jose Mendes Cabecadas
, a democratic sympathizer supported by the last republican president,
Bernardino Machado
, was succeeded in June by
Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa
. Carmona, who had been the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
between 3 June and 6 July, was the leader of the most conservative and authoritarian wing of the military regime, which considered the more moderate Gomes da Costa a liability. On 9 July, he led a countercoup together with general
Joao Jose Sinel de Cordes
, named himself both President and Prime Minister, and immediately assumed dictatorial powers. He was formally elected to the office in 1928, as the only candidate.
In 1928 Carmona appointed
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar
as
Minister of Finance
. Impressed by Salazar's charisma and qualities, Carmona nominated Salazar as
Prime Minister
in 1932, and largely turned over control of the government to him.
In 1933, a new constitution officially established the "
Estado Novo
". On paper, the new document codified the dictatorial powers Carmona had exercised since 1926. However, in practice he left most of the day-to-day work of governing to Salazar. For all practical purposes, Carmona was now little more than a figurehead; Salazar held the real power. On paper, the president's power to dismiss Salazar was the only check on his power. However, Carmona mostly allowed Salazar a free hand. He was re-elected without opposition in 1935 and 1942 for seven-year terms. In 1935, he signed the law that forbade Freemasonry in Portugal reluctantly, due to his own Freemason past.
Although the democratic opposition was allowed to contest elections after World War II, Carmona was not on friendly terms with it. When the opposition demanded that the elections be delayed in order to give them more time to organize, Carmona turned them down.
However, there were widespread rumors that Carmona supported the failed military uprising in 1947, which was led by general Jose Marques Godinho to overthrow Salazar, under the condition that he would remain as President of the Republic. Probably to end these rumors, Carmona finally accepted the title of Marshal.
In 1949, Carmona, 79 years old, sought his fourth term as president. For the first time, he actually faced an opponent in General
Jose Norton de Matos
. However, it soon became apparent that Salazar would not allow Matos to actually run a campaign. The persecution grew so severe that Matos pulled out of the race on 12 February, handing Carmona another term.
Carmona died two years later, in 1951, after 24 years as the President of the Republic. He was buried in the
Church of Santa Engracia
, National Pantheon, in
Lisbon
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
He was born to Maria Ines Corte-Real de Melo Fragoso
[2]
and Alvaro Rosario Teixeira Carmona, a Portuguese Naval officer from
Felgueiras
, based in
Brazil
and part of the Portuguese Military Attache's staff in Brazil. In January 1914, Carmona married Maria do Carmo Ferreira da Silva (
Chaves
, 28 September 1878 ? 13 March 1956), daughter of Germano da Silva and wife Engracia de Jesus. With this marriage, he legitimized their three children.
He was the grand-uncle of the former
Mayor
of
Lisbon
Carmona Rodrigues
(2004?2007). He was also the cousin of Brazilian President
Augusto Tasso Fragoso
.
[3]
His personal library was purchased by the National Library of Australia in 1967/8.
[4]
Honours
[
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]
Publications
[
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]
Carmona wrote a book of rules for the Cavalry School in 1913.
Legacy
[
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]
The town of
Uige
,
Angola
, used to be called Carmona after him.
[7]
It had that name until 1975 when the Portuguese
Overseas Province of Angola
became independent. He was also portrayed in the
Angolan escudo
banknote issue of 1972.
[8]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
Preceded by
King of Sweden
Gustaf V
|
The oldest current head of state
29 October 1950 - 18 April 1951
|
Succeeded by
President of Finland
Juho Kusti Paasikivi
|
Ancestors of Antonio Oscar Fragoso Carmona
|
---|
| | | | | | | | | 16. Antonio Jose Machado Carmona
| | | | | | | 8. Henrique Luis Machado Carmona
| | | | | | | | | | 17.
(unknown mother)
| | | | | | | 4. Leonel Joaquim Machado de Azevedo Carmona
| | | | | | | | | | | | 18. Manuel Jose Pereira
| | | | | | | 9. Maria Madalena Pereira do Amaral
| | | | | | | | | | 19. Ana Maria do Amaral e Azevedo
| | | | | | | 2. Inacio Maria Machado de Morais Carmona
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20.
| | | | | | | 10. Jose de Morais Carneiro
| | | | | | | | | | 21.
| | | | | | | 5. Maria Emilia das Lagrimas de Morais Carneiro
| | | | | | | | | | | | 22.
| | | | | | | 11. Maria Joana da Fonseca
| | | | | | | | | | 23.
| | | | | | | 1.
Antonio Oscar Fragoso Carmona
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 24.
| | | | | | | 12. Joao Joaquim de Melo Sameiro
| | | | | | | | | | 25.
| | | | | | | 6. Antonio Manuel de Melo Fragoso de Vila-Lobos
| | | | | | | | | | | | 26.
| | | | | | | 13. Ana Joaquina de Brito Fragoso
| | | | | | | | | | 27.
| | | | | | | 3. Maria Ines de Melo Fragoso Corte-Real
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 28.
| | | | | | | 14. Joao Jose de Melo Corte-Real
| | | | | | | | | | 29.
| | | | | | | 7. Ines Henriqueta de Melo Corte-Real
| | | | | | | | | | | | 30.
| | | | | | | 15. Antonia Clementina Jordao
| | | | | | | | | | 31.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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