- Os Grandes Portugueses
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Os Grandes Portugueses (English: The Greatest Portuguese) was a public poll contest organized by the Portuguese public broadcasting station RTP and hosted by Maria Elisa. Based on BBC's 100 Greatest Britons, it featured individual documentaries advocating the top ten candidates. The final vote took place on March 25, 2007, the winner being António de Oliveira Salazar, Portugal's dictator between 1932 and 1968.
Contents
The top ten
Dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, whose programme was presented by Jaime Nogueira Pinto, polled the most (41%); his lifelong communist political opponent Álvaro Cunhal was second (19%), and the diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes third (13%).
Salazar is often described from a right-wing viewpoint, as a model of competence, conservatism, rigor, and public service devotion, because of the authoritarianism of his regime, its suppression of political dissent, and repressive state police. A simultaneous opinion poll conducted by Marktest showed that, given the choice of the finalists, Salazar was the favourite of only 11%.[1] RTP itself commissioned a simultaneous poll, conducted by Eurosondagem, which ranked Salazar 7th, with 6.6% of the vote.[2] The difference of these statiscally representative polls to the final result suggest that the voting, consisting of voluntary telephone calls, may have been skewed by groups with vested interests.
The 10 most voted-for personalities were revealed on January 14, 2007. All of the 10 finalists are deceased. The highest placed living Portuguese was former president Mário Soares (12th). On March 25 the final results were announced:
- António de Oliveira Salazar – Statesman, dictator between 1932 and 1968 (41.0%)
- Álvaro Cunhal – Politician (19.1%)
- Aristides de Sousa Mendes – Diplomat (13.0%)
- Afonso I – King (12.4%)
- Luís Vaz de Camões – Poet (4.0%)
- John II – King (3%)
- Henry the Navigator – Prince (2.7%)
- Fernando Pessoa – Poet (2.4%)
- Marquês de Pombal – Politician (1.7%)
- Vasco da Gama – Explorer (0.7%)
Name Birth Death Occupation Name Birth Death Occupation Afonso I 1109 1185 Founder and first king of Portugal Henry the Navigator 1394 1460 Infante and fomenter of the Portuguese discoveries Álvaro Cunhal 1913 2005 Communist leader during the Estado Novo regime and during the post-Carnation Revolution political scene John II 1455 1495 Thirteenth king of Portugal and restorer of the Atlantic ocean and African-coast explorations António de Oliveira Salazar 1889 1970 President of the Council of Ministers for 48 years during the authoritarian period of the Estado Novo Luís de Camões 1524 1580 Epic and lyrical poet, author of the national epic Os Lusíadas Aristides de Sousa Mendes 1885 1954 Diplomat who fought against his own government for the safety of Jews living in Europe, during World War II, saving over 30,000 people. Marquês de Pombal 1699 1782 Minister of Kingdom of José I and responsible for the reconstruction of Lisbon after the 1755 Earthquake Fernando Pessoa 1888 1935 Modernist poet and writer widely known for the employment of multiple heteronyms Vasco da Gama 1469 1524 First explorer to discover the sea route from Europe to India The other 90
Position Name Lived 11 Salgueiro Maia 1944–1992 military chief 12 Mário Soares born 1924 former President of the Republic 13 Saint Anthony of Lisbon 1195–1231 saint 14 Amália Rodrigues 1920–1999 fado singer 15 Eusébio born 1942 football player 16 Francisco Sá Carneiro 1934–1980 politician 17 Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa born 1937 president of Futebol Clube do Porto 18 Nuno Álvares Pereira 1360–1431 strategist and general 19 João Ferreira Annes de Almeida 1628–1691 missionary 20 José Mourinho born 1963 football team manager 21 Agostinho da Silva 1906–1994 philosopher 22 Eça de Queiroz 1845–1900 realist writer 23 Egas Moniz 1874–1955 doctor, first Portuguese to win a Nobel Prize 24 Denis of Portugal 1261–1325 6th king of Portugal 25 Fernando Nobre born 1951 president of the AMI foundation 26 José Hermano Saraiva born 1919 historian, TV host 27 Cavaco Silva born 1939 President of the Portuguese Republic, former Prime Minister 28 Humberto Delgado 1906–1965 military officer and politician 29 Zeca Afonso 1929–1987 singer-songwriter 30 Luís Figo born 1972 football player 31 Marcelo Caetano 1906–1980 politician and professor 32 Pedro Nunes 1502–1578 scientist and mathematician 33 Father António Vieira 1608–1697 writer and preacher 34 Florbela Espanca 1894–1930 poet 35 Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480–1521 navigator 36 Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo 1930–2004 the only female prime-minister of Portugal 37 John I of Portugal 1357–1433 10th king of Portugal 38 Sophia de Mello Breyner 1919–2004 writer and poet 39 Antonia Ferreira 1811–1896 businesswoman 40 Father Américo 1887–1953 philanthroper 41 António Damásio born 1944 scientist 42 Afonso de Albuquerque 1462–1515 military strategist and governor of India 43 Manuel I of Portugal 1469–1521 14th king of Portugal 44 José Saramago 1922–2010* Nobel-laureate writer 45 Elizabeth of Aragon 1271–1336 The Saint Queen, queen consort of Portugal 46 Catarina Eufémia 1928–1954 popular heroine 47 Carlos Paredes 1925–2004 Portuguese guitarra player and composer 48 José Sócrates born 1957 former Prime Minister of Portugal 49 Pedro Álvares Cabral 1467–1520 navigator who discovered Brazil 50 Ruy de Carvalho born 1927 actor 51 Brites de Almeida, The Baker of Aljubarrota 14th century popular heroine 52 Alberto João Jardim born 1943 president of the Autonomous Region of Madeira 53 Almada Negreiros 1893–1970 modern painter and writer 54 Vasco Gonçalves 1921–2005 military officer and politician 55 Álvaro Siza Vieira born 1933 architect 56 Belmiro de Azevedo born 1938 businessman 57 Sousa Martins 1843–1897 doctor 58 Maria do Carmo Seabra born 1955 former minister of Education 59 Father António Andrade 1580–1624 missionary explorer 60 Charles I of Portugal 1860–1908 32nd king of Portugal 61 Mariza born 1973 fado singer 62 Eleanor of Portugal 1458–1525 queen consort of Portugal 63 Rosa Mota born 1958 athlete 64 António Teixeira Rebelo 1748–1825 founder of the military school 65 Afonso III of Portugal 1210–1279 5th king of Portugal 66 Vítor Baía born 1969 football goalkeeper 67 Bartolomeu Dias c. 1450–1500 navigator 68 Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho born 1936 military officer and politician 69 Cristiano Ronaldo born 1985 football player 70 Herman José born 1954 actor and comedian 71 Mary II of Portugal 1819–1853 queen of Portugal 72 Carlos Lopes born 1947 athlete 73 Afonso Costa 1871–1937 politician 74 Fontes Pereira de Melo 1819–1887 politician 75 Gago Coutinho 1869–1959 geographer – first to cross the South Atlantic by plane 76 Ricardo de Araújo Pereira born 1974 comedian 77 Manuel Sobrinho Simões born 1947 doctor and scientist 78 Bocage 1765–1805 poet 79 Hélio Pestana born 1985 actor, teenage idol 80 Jorge Sampaio born 1939 former President of the Portuguese Republic 81 António Champalimaud 1918–2004 businessman 82 António Lobo Antunes born 1942 writer 83 Gil Vicente c. 1465–1536 playwright 84 Maria Helena Vieira da Silva 1908–1992 painter 85 Miguel Torga 1907–1995 writer 86 Natália Correia 1923–1993 poet and writer 87 Edgar Cardoso 1913–2000 engineer 88 Fernão Mendes Pinto c. 1510–1583 explorer and writer 89 Sister Lúcia 1907–2005 nun 90 Alfredo da Silva 1871–1942 industrialist 91 Pedro Hispano c. 1205–1277 Pope John XXI 92 Damião de Góis 1502–1574 humanist writer and humanist 93 John IV of Portugal 1604–1656 20th king of Portugal 94 Joaquim Agostinho 1943–1984 cyclist 95 Adelaide Cabete 1867–1935 doctor 96 Almeida Garrett 1799–1854 romanticist writer 97 António Gentil Martins born 1930 doctor 98 António Variações 1944–1984 singer-songwriter 99 Paula Rego born 1935 painter 100 Maria João Pires born 1944 pianist - There are 19 women in the top 100.
- There were 33 living persons in the top 100. A further 33 are predominantly 20th century figures.
- Brites de Almeida (51) is the only (likely) fictional person listed in top 100.
Os Piores Portugueses
The SIC Notícias program Eixo do Mal (Axis of Evil) held a parallel vote for Os Piores Portugueses (The Worst Portuguese), also won by António de Oliveira Salazar.
References
- ^ "O melhor Português de sempre". Marktest.com. http://www.marktest.com/wap/a/n/id~d5b.aspx. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
- ^ "SondagemGrandesPortugueses.pdf" (PDF). http://www.rtp.pt/wportal/sites/tv/grandesportugueses/SondagemGrandesPortugueses.pdf. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
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