José Pinheiro de Azevedo
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office
19 September 1975  23 July 1976
PresidentFrancisco da Costa Gomes
Preceded byVasco Gonçalves
Succeeded byMário Soares
Minister of National Defence
In office
19 September 1975  23 July 1976
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded bySilvano Ribeiro
Succeeded byMário Firmino Miguel
Chief of the Navy General Staff
In office
26 April 1974  28 November 1975
Preceded byArmando Júlio de Roboredo e Silva
Succeeded byAntónio Egídio de Sousa Leitão
Personal details
Born(1917-06-05)5 June 1917
Luanda, Portuguese Angola
Died10 August 1983(1983-08-10) (aged 66)
Lisbon, Portugal
Political partyIndependent (before 1976)
Christian Democratic (from 1976)
Alma materPortuguese Navy School
OccupationNaval officer
Military service
Allegiance Portugal
Branch/service Portuguese Navy
Years of service1937–1976
RankAdmiral

Admiral José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo GCL (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ βaˈtiʃtɐ piˈɲɐjɾu ðɨ ɐzɨˈveðu]; 5 June 1917 – 10 August 1983) was a Portuguese political figure, reformer and revolutionary. He helped overthrow Marcelo Caetano in 1974. He served as the 104th Prime Minister of Portugal between 19 September 1975 and 23 June 1976. He ran for president in 1976, and lost.

Pinheiro de Azevedo was born on 5 June 1917 in Luanda, but moved to Portugal several years later. In the 1960s, he joined the Movement for Democratic Unity and was a supporter of the Presidential candidacies of José Norton de Matos, Manuel Quintão Meireles and Humberto Delgado.

Pinheiro de Azevedo served in the Portuguese Colonial War, as an admiral in charge of the maritime defense of Portuguese Angola.

After the Revolution of 25 April 1974, he was appointed to the National Salvation Junta, and was committed to the cause of democratization in Portugal.

On 29 August 1975 he became Prime Minister of the Sixth Provisional Government replacing ousted Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves.

At the end of his tenure as Prime Minister, he was replaced for the final 30 days by Vasco Almeida e Costa, Minister of Internal Administration. Pinheiro had suffered a heart attack on 23 June while campaigning in Oporto[1] for the Portuguese presidency as one of the independent candidates in the 27 June presidential election. He was taken to a hospital and was still recovering when President António Ramalho Eanes appointed Mario Soares as the new premier.

Presidential Elections of 27 June 1976

Summary of the 27 June 1976 Portuguese presidential election results
Candidates Supporting parties First round
Votes %
António Ramalho Eanes Independent 2,967,137 61.59
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho Independent 792,760 16.46
José Pinheiro de Azevedo Independent 692,147 14.37
Octávio Rodrigues Pato Portuguese Communist Party 365,586 7.59
Total valid 4,817,630 100.00
Blank ballots 43,242 0.89
Invalid ballots 20,253 0.41
Total (turnout 75.47%) 4,881,125
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 8 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine

References

  1. "Lisbon Premier Stricken in Presidential Campaign", by Marvine Howe, The New York Times, 24 June 1976, p. 6
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