Francisco Pinto Balsemão

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Pereira and the second or paternal family name is Pinto Balsemão.
His Excellency
Francisco Pinto Balsemão
GCC GCIH GCL GO
Balsemão in 1982
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office
9 January 1981 – 9 June 1983
PresidentAntónio Ramalho Eanes
DeputyDiogo Freitas do Amaral
Preceded byFrancisco Sá Carneiro
Succeeded byMário Soares
President of the Social Democratic Party
In office
13 December 1980 – 27 February 1983
Secretary‑GeneralAntónio Capucho
Preceded byFrancisco Sá Carneiro
Succeeded byNuno Rodrigues dos Santos
Personal details
Born(1937-09-01)1 September 1937
Lisbon, Lisbon District, Portugal
Died21 October 2025(2025-10-21) (aged 88)
Cascais, Lisbon District, Portugal
PartySocial Democratic Party
Spouses
Maria Isabel de Lacerda Rebelo Pinto da Costa Lobo
​
​
(m. 1964, divorced)​
Maria Mercedes Aliu Presas
​
​
(m. 1975)​
Children5
RelativesPedro IV of Portugal
(great-great-grandfather)
Alma materUniversity of Lisbon
Occupation
  • Politician
  • journalist
  • newspaper administrator
Known forFounder of Impresa
Signature

Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku ˈpĩtu βalsɨˈmɐ̃w]; 1 September 1937 – 21 October 2025) was a Portuguese businessman, journalist, and politician, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1981 to 1983.

Under the Estado Novo regime, Pinto Balsemão served in the National Assembly as part of the pro-democracy "Liberal Wing". In 1974, shortly after the Carnation Revolution, Pinto Balsemão co-founded the Social Democratic Party along with like-minded politicians Francisco Sá Carneiro and Joaquim Magalhães Mota.

During the Portuguese transition to democracy, Pinto Balsemão served in the Constituent Assembly, which was tasked with drafting a new constitution. Under prime minister Sá Carneiro, Pinto Balsemão served as a cabinet minister. After Sá Carneiro died in 1980, Pinto Balsemão succeeded him as prime minister in 1981, although political tension led him to leave office in 1983.

In addition to holding political office, Pinto Balsemão led the Impresa media group, founding the Expresso newspaper in 1973 and the SIC television network in 1992.

Background

Francisco Pinto Balsemão was born in Lisbon on 1 September 1937,[1] the son of Henrique Patrício Pinto Balsemão and wife Maria Adelaide van Zeller de Castro Pereira, great-granddaughter of Pedro IV of Portugal.[2]

Career

Having earned a law degree from the University of Lisbon in 1960, Pinto Balsemão's pre-political career was in newspaper publishing.[1] After working as a journalist and then as an administrator of Diário Popular (the People's Daily in English) from 1963 to 1971, he founded the Expresso magazine in 1973.[3][4] He was also the founder of Impresa media group.[5]

Pinto Balsemão was a member of the National Assembly from 1969 to 1973, under the Estado Novo regime.[6] Along with Francisco Sá Carneiro, Joaquim Magalhães Mota, João Bosco Mota Amaral and others, he was a member of the "Liberal Wing", an unorganized group of politicians in favor of democratization.[6] During his tenure in the National Assembly, he advocated against censorship and visited political prisoners.[1] Pinto Balsemão resigned from the National Assembly in 1973 following the departure of Francisco Sá Carneiro.[5]

In 1974, shortly after the Carnation Revolution, Pinto Balsemão, together with Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota, helped to found the Social Democratic Party (PSD), of which he was member number 1.[6] In 1975 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly,[5] which was charged with drafting a new constitution and served as an interim legislature. Pinto Balsemão was chosen as a vice-president of this body.[5]

Following the victory of the Democratic Alliance (a coalition led by the PSD) in the 1979 and 1980 parliamentary elections, Pinto Balsemão was a cabinet minister under Prime Minister Francisco Sá Carneiro.[7]

After Sá Carneiro was killed in an air accident on 4 December 1980, the Social Democratic Party chose Pinto Balsemão to succeed him as prime minister.[8] He took office on 9 January 1981.[6]

He had to cope with criticism within his own party, tension within the ruling coalition, and attacks from opposition parties.[7] These factors contributed to his resignation in December 1982,[1] though he remained the head of a caretaker government,[1] leaving office on 9 June 1983.[9] He had served as president of the Social Democratic Party from 13 December 1980 to 27 February 1983.[5]

After his political career, Pinto Balsemão returned to the Impresa group.[1] In 1992, he founded Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), the first Portuguese private television network.[1] He served as chairman of the European Publishers Council and led the European Institute for the Media.[7]

Pinto Balsemão was a member of Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group for over thirty years.[10] From 2005, he was also a member of the Portuguese Council of State.[11]

Personal life

In 1964, Pinto Balsemão married Maria Isabel de Lacerda Rebelo Pinto da Costa Lobo, also known as "Belicha".[12][13] The couple had two children, Mónica and Henrique.[12]

His third child, Francisco Maria, was born in 1970, the product of an extramarital relationship with Isabel Maria Supico Pinto.[12] Pinto Balsemão initially refused to recognize paternity of his illegitimate child and the two did not meet until the late 1980s.[12] His wife, Belicha, also allegedly had an extramarital affair with television presenter Carlos Cruz, which was later confirmed in Cruz's autobiography.[13][14]

Pinto Balsemão's second marriage was to Maria Mercedes Aliu Presas, also known as "Tita", of Spanish descent.[13] They were married in 1975, after Pinto Balsemão's divorce with his first wife was finalized.[13] The couple had two children, Joana and Francisco Pedro.[13] Pinto Balsemão referred to his second wife as the "queen mother" due to her personal influence.[15] She welcomed and integrated Francisco Maria into the family.[12]

Pinto Balsemão died at his home in Cascais on 21 October 2025, at the age of 88.[1][16]

Honours

National

Foreign

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Nossiter, Adam (25 October 2025). "Francisco Pinto Balsemão, 88, Dies; Portuguese Prime Minister and Press Champion". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  2. ^ Policarpo, Inês (22 October 2025). "Francisco Pinto Balsemão tinha sangue real. Espreite 5 curiosidades sobre o fundador da SIC". MAGG (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Francisco Pinto Balsemão". www.e-cultura.pt. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Morre Francisco Pinto Balsemão, ex-primeiro-ministro de Portugal". O Globo (in Portuguese). 21 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Francisco Pinto Balsemão". www.psd.pt (in European Portuguese). Social Democratic Party. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d "Francisco Pinto Balsemão, a história política do militante nº 1 do PSD (1937‍–‍2025)". ECO Sapo (in European Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 21 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Hatton, Barry (22 October 2025). "Pinto Balsemão, ex-Portugal leader and media tycoon, dies at 88". AP News.
  8. ^ "Party of Dead Premier In Portugal Nominates His Aide as Successor". The New York Times. 14 December 1980.
  9. ^ Correia, Augusto (21 October 2025). "Francisco Pinto Balsemão, o militante número um que amava a liberdade". Jornal de Notícias (in European Portuguese).
  10. ^ Leite Ferreira, Marta (9 November 2018). "Junta 11 banqueiros, milionários e empresários. Balsemão vai criar Clube Bilderberg à portuguesa". Observador (in European Portuguese).
  11. ^ Caetano, Maria João (21 October 2025). ""A política obrigou-me a ver as pessoas e os traidores de outra maneira": Francisco Pinto Balsemão (1937‍–‍2025)". CNN Portugal (in Portuguese).
  12. ^ a b c d e Oliveira, Carina (23 October 2025). "Os amores, as festas e o filho ilegítimo: a vida privada de Francisco Pinto Balsemão". V+ TVI (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d e "As mulheres da vida de Francisco Pinto Balsemão". Máxima (in European Portuguese). 23 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  14. ^ Lourenço, Rute (22 October 2025). "A fascinante vida privada de Francisco Pinto Balsemão: as três mulheres, os cinco filhos e o herdeiro-surpresa que só reconheceu aos 20 anos". www.flash.pt (in European Portuguese).
  15. ^ Guterres, Joana (24 October 2025). "De 'rainha consorte a rainha-mãe', Mercedes Balsemão assume agora o derradeiro papel de matriarca do clã, na união dos filhos mas também nos negócios de família". www.flash.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  16. ^ "Morreu Francisco Pinto Balsemão, ex-primeiro-ministro e fundador do grupo Impresa". Expresso (in Portuguese). 21 October 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

Media related to Francisco Pinto Balsemão at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ^ "Francisco Pinto Balsemão, PSD".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.