Francisco da Costa Gomes

Francisco da Costa Gomes [ fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku dɐ ˈkɔʃtɐ ˈgomɨʃ ] (born June 30, 1914 in Chaves , † July 31, 2001 in Cascais ) was the Portuguese Marshal and President of Portugal from 1974 to 1976.

Francisco da Costa Gomes was the son of a captain . He studied at the Military College and later at the University of Porto . From 1946 on he was entrusted with high offices in the Portuguese armed forces and at times with NATO . He became Undersecretary of State, but was dismissed from this position in 1961 because he favored a political solution to the colonial question.

From 1965 he was a senior officer in Mozambique , then commander of the Portuguese colonial forces in Angola . There he tried, with limited success, to come to an understanding with the UNITA resistance group . He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 1972 and dismissed in March 1974 because he advocated withdrawing from the colonial war and, together with General António de Spínola, refused to participate in a demonstration of confidence for the dictator Marcelo Caetano .

He became one of the protagonists of the movement of the armed forces MFA to overthrow the dictatorship ( Carnation Revolution ). On April 25, 1974, he went public as one of the seven officers of the Junta for the Salvation of the Nation and took over the post of Chief of the General Staff until September 30, 1974, after the resignation of António de Spínola, he became the second president of the Third Republic of September 28, 1974 to July 13, 1976, then he handed over the office to the popularly elected successor General António Ramalho Eanes .

Francisco da Costa Gomes saw himself as a soldier and not a politician. As a soldier, he soon came to believe that the colonial war was unjustifiable. In the Carnation Revolution from 1974, he asserted himself against General Spínola, who was drifting to the right, as well as against the Portuguese Communist Party under Álvaro Cunhal, who was pushing to power .

Web links

• Official biography (Portuguese)

predecessor	Office	successor
Antonio de Spínola	President of Portugal 1974–1976	Antonio Ramalho Eanes