Fernando Nobre

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Fernando Nobre (2008)

Fernando José de La Vieter Ribeiro Nobre (born December 16, 1951 in Luanda , Angola ) is a Portuguese doctor, politician, author and activist. He is best known as the founder of the aid organization Assistência Médica Internacional (AMI) and also as a 2011 presidential candidate . He has served in the humanitarian service in over 180 countries.

Life

Nobre was born in 1951 in what was then the Portuguese colony of Angola. In 1964 he went with his family to the Republic of the Congo, which became independent from Belgium in 1960 .

In 1967 he went to Brussels , where he studied medicine at the Free University of Brussels , specializing in surgery and urology . After completing his doctorate , he worked in both surgery and urology at Brussels University Hospital .

In the 1970s he became increasingly involved in humanitarian aid organizations (see below, chapter Humanitarian engagement ). In 1985 he moved to Portugal, where he founded his own organization, AMI.

In the 2000s a number of his books appeared, both about his experiences as a relief worker and human rights activist, as well as stories, especially for children.

Nobre became involved in politics from around 2002. After his failed presidential candidacy in 2011, he withdrew completely from politics (see below, chapter Political Engagement ).

Fernando Nobre was on the list of the 100 most frequently mentioned important Portuguese people in the polls in the run-up to the Os Grandes Portugueses 2007 television survey . In the following vote on the television program of the public broadcaster RTP , Nobre came in 15th place among the "Best Portuguese", which was fifth among the living Portuguese.

His impeccable reputation only got a few temporary spots after his political commitment and the later discovery of his overly criticized remuneration as AMI president in 2011.

In an interview with the Portuguese television broadcaster SIC in 2012, Nobre said that some time after his 50th birthday he had joined the Masonic Lodge Loja do Oriente Lusitano (since 1985 a member of the Center of Liaison and Information of Masonic Powers Signatories of Strasbourg Appeal ). Although he is not very active there, he believes that members should profess Freemasonry .

He has been married to Luísa Nemésio, the granddaughter of the writer Vitorino Nemésio , for the second time since 1985 ; the couple has two daughters. From his first marriage to the Belgian Danièle Focquet, Nobre has a daughter and a son.

Humanitarian engagement

From 1977 Nobre became involved with the Belgian and French Doctors Without Borders , for whom he worked in a managerial position and did a large number of assignments in various crisis areas. Under the impression of his experience, he founded the aid organization Assistência Médica Internacional (AMI) in 1984 in order to mobilize the potential of Portuguese doctors and society more strongly for international aid and to apply his previous experience in other regions, in particular the Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa .

In 1985 Nobre moved entirely to Portugal, his father's homeland, where he developed personal connections since his first visit in 1975 and began his humanitarian work in the AMI. Since then, his involvement with the AMI has taken him to more than 250 missions in 77 other countries with humanitarian emergencies in war and crisis areas on all five continents.

On June 10, 1991, he received the Order for Merit in Grand Officer rank. A number of other awards followed in various countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. One of his most difficult human missions was the AMI operation in the harrowing genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the sight of almost completely burned, living children during the bombing of the First Gulf War in Iraq, although he was personally more threatened in situations such as an operation between uncontrolled militias in the Lawless Somalia in 1992, in an ongoing bombardment in Beirut or in prison in Tehran during the bloody domestic political crisis in Iran in 1981.

Political commitment

Nobre always stayed away from the politics his father had always warned him about as misleading and dangerous. From around 2000 onwards, however, he increasingly mixed up with daily political affairs. He supported the right-wing liberal PSD candidate José Manuel Barroso in the parliamentary elections in 2002 , but later appeared deeply disappointed with his term in office. In 2006 he supported the socialist presidential candidate Mário Soares and, for the 2009 European elections, the program of the left-wing party Bloco de Esquerda with its top candidate Miguel Portas .

His support for very diverse representatives of the Portuguese party landscape was the result of his selection of people, whom he considered to be particularly honest and progressive.

In 2010, he finally let himself run as a candidate for the 2011 presidential election in Portugal . This unusual candidacy, intended as an unencumbered departure towards a policy oriented towards the common good, should help to lead Portugal out of the deep crisis the country found itself in as a result of the euro crisis . While some observers criticized the candidacy as naive because of Norbre's lack of political experience and anchoring and an overestimation of the President's options for action, others were enthusiastic about the commitment of the candidate, who was considered to be non-partisan and undoubtedly with integrity.

His candidacy was also supported by a number of celebrities, including musicians such as Rui Veloso and Luís Represas , who created a campaign anthem for him.

As a non-party independent candidate, Nobre achieved a respectable 14% on the one hand, but was disappointed on the other hand that, although the public insisted on a fresh start and a fundamental change in policy, in the end only the same representatives elected and everything stayed the same. Even the publicly expressed support from well-known personalities inside and outside of politics actually failed to materialize at the crucial moment, i.e. not meant honestly and yet remained committed to the prevailing conditions.

At the insistence of the later Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho , Nobre then ran in the parliamentary elections in Portugal 2011 as an independent candidate for the PSD list in the Lisbon constituency and moved into the Portuguese Parliament on June 20, 2011 as a member of the Portuguese Parliament , still an independent member of the PSD Fraction. In the following election as President of Parliament, the PSD put him on, but he was not elected. On July 1, 2011, Nobre gave up his mandate and withdrew from politics for good.

Awards (selection)

Publications (selection)

Web links

Commons : Fernando Nobre  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Result of the Top 100 after the end of the preliminary survey , PDF retrieval of the information list at the RTP, accessed on January 22, 2018
  2. ↑ O top 100 dos grandes portugueses - "The top 100 of the great Portuguese" , article from January 11, 2007 in the Portuguese newspaper Público , accessed on January 22, 2018
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Fernando Nobre: ​​'Se morrer numa missão nicht quero que o meu corpo volte' - "If I die in an operation, I don't want my body to return" , interview article from 3. December 2015 of the Portuguese weekly newspaper Sol , accessed on January 22, 2018
  4. ↑ Casal Nobre ganha mais de 5000 euros brutos / mês na AMI - "The spouse Nobre earns over 5000 euros gross monthly at the AMI" , article of April 27, 2011 in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias , accessed on January 22, 2018
  5. ↑ Fernando Nobre assume ser maçom - "Fernando Nobre is a declared Freemason" , article from January 6, 2012 in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias , accessed on January 22, 2018
  6. ↑ a b c Alfredo Cunha (photos), Luís Pedro Nunes (text): Toda a Esperança do Mundo. , Porto Editora , Porto 2015 ( ISBN 978-972-0-04780-9 ), p. 310ff
  7. ↑ Biography Fernando Nobres at the Wook online dispatch of the publishing house Porto Editora, accessed on January 22, 2018
  8. ^ Entry Fernando Nobres in the list of medals awarded by the Portuguese President (bottom line), accessed on January 22, 2018
  9. ↑ Self-information on Fernando Nobres ' personal blog , accessed on January 22, 2018
  10. ↑ O especialista em grandes urgências que quer "credibilizar a política" - "The emergency specialist who" wants to make politics more credible " , article of December 25, 2010 in the Portuguese newspaper Público, accessed on January 22, 2018
  11. ↑ Hino Oficial - Fernando Nobre 2011 , official video clip, accessed on YouTube on January 22, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Nobre, Fernando
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fernando José de La Vieter Ribeiro Nobre (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese doctor and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Luanda , Angola