Soares, Mário
Soares, Mário
(Mário Alberto Nobre Lópes Soares) (mä`ryo͝o swä`rəsh), 1924–2017, Portuguese politician. Soares rose to prominence as a vocal critic of the regime of António SalazarSalazar, António de Oliveira, 1889–1970, Portuguese statesman and dictator. After studying at the Univ. of Coimbra, he became professor of political economy there.
..... Click the link for more information. and as an advocate of democracy and economic development; he was imprisoned on numerous occasions. Exiled in 1968 and again in 1970, he returned from Paris in Apr., 1974, following the military coup that ousted the government of Premier Marcello CaetanoCaetano, Marcello
, 1906–80, Portuguese lawyer and statesman. He received a doctorate in law (1931) from the Univ. of Lisbon, where he taught after 1932, serving as professor (1940–68) and as rector (1959–62).
..... Click the link for more information. . Soares became foreign minister for the new military junta, but as this fell increasingly under the control of radicals Soares broke with the junta and led the fight for parliamentary democracy. After the leftist coup attempt of Nov., 1975, was crushed, his cause was successful. Soares and his Socialist party were the dominant force from 1975 to 1978, but were generally ineffective and their power eroded. During the early 1980s they alternated in office with the Social Democrats, who gradually replaced the Socialists as the major party. A three-time premier, Soares presided over the granting of independence to the country's African colonies and negotiated Portugal's entry into the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986. That same year, Soares stepped down as head of the party to run successfully for the Portuguese presidency. An extremely popular president, he was reelected in 1991 and retired in 1996, credited with consolidating the democracy he did much to create. From 1999 to 2004 Soares served in the European Parliament. In 2006 he again ran for president but finished third.
Soares, Mário
Born Dec. 7, 1924, in Lisbon. Portuguese political and state figure.
Soares graduated from the University of Lisbon with degrees in philology and law. In 1964 he helped found the Portuguese Socialist Action, which was reorganized as the Portuguese Socialist Party in 1973. Soares became secretary-general of the party in 1973. He was nominated as a candidate for the National Assembly by the legal opposition in 1965 and 1969. Soares was arrested and exiled for his political activities numerous times. He lived as an emigré in France between 1970 and the victory of the revolution on Apr. 25, 1974. From May 1974 to July 1975 he served as minister of foreign affairs and minister without portfolio in the provisional government of Portugal. Soares headed the first constitutional government in Portugal from July 1976 to July 1978. In October 1980 he resigned as secretary-general of the Portuguese Socialist Party.