- António de Spínola
António Sebastião Ribeiro Spínola (generally called de Spínola, though this particular
surname never had a particle), GCTE, ComA (pronounced|ɐ̃ˈtɔniu dɨ ˈspinulɐ;Estremoz , Santo André,April 11 ,1910 [Baptised inLisbon , Santa Justa, onAugust 18 ,1910 ] -Lisbon ,August 13 ,1996 ) was a Portuguesesoldier andpolitician . He was a son ofAntónio Sebastião Spínola and first wife Maria Gabriela Alves Ribeiro.Spínola entered the
Colégio Militar in 1920, beginning what would be a very successful military career. By 1928 he joined Portugal's Military Academy where he stood out as a young and promising cavalry officer.In
Lisbon , Anjos, inAugust , 1932 he married Maria Helena Martin Monteiro de Barros (January 14 ,1913 -May 23 ,2002 ), daughter of João de Azevedo Monteiro de Barros and wife Gertrud Elisabete Martin, by whom he had no issue.Spinola served in several positions in Portugal's rebellious colonies in
Africa . In 1961 Spínola was sent toAngola , and in 1968 Spinola was appointed as the 42nd Governor ofPortuguese Guinea and Chief of the Army Forces there. In 1973 he was invited to be the Minister of the Colonies, but he refused. A year later Spínola became Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, but was dismissed after difficulties with the government.On
April 25 ,1974 , the authoritarian regime inPortugal was overthrown by theCarnation Revolution in which General Spinola did not play an important role. However Prime-MinisterMarcelo Caetano insisted he would only surrender power to Spínola. The general negotiated the surrender and seized this opportunity to present himself as the leader of the revolution, subsequently becoming President of the Republic onMay 15 . As a conservative he disliked the leftist direction of the revolution and tried to avoid the independence of the colonies.Spínola met with
Mobutu Sese Seko , thePresident of Zaire , onSeptember 15 ,1974 on Sal island in theCape Verde , crafting a plan to empowerHolden Roberto of theNational Liberation Front of Angola ,Jonas Savimbi ofUNITA , andDaniel Chipenda of theMPLA 's eastern faction at MPLA leaderAgostinho Neto 's expense while retaining the facade of national unity. Mobutu and Spínola wanted to diminish Neto's standing and present Chipenda as the MPLA head, Mobutu particularly preferring Chipenda to Neto because Chipenda supported autonomy for Cabinda and Neto did not. The Angolanexclave has immense petroleum reserves estimated at around 300 million tons which Zaire, and thus the Mobutu government, depended on for economic survival.Erik P. Hoffmann amd Frederic J. Fleron. "The Conduct of Soviet Foreign Policy", 1980. Page 524.] He resigned fifteen days later onSeptember 30 ,1974 , after just 4 months in power, when he realized he would not be able to block the application of the MFA program.Nataf, Daniel. "Democratization and Social Settlements: The Politics of Change in Contemporary Portugal", 1995. Page 14.]Spínola became involved in a right-wing coup attempt in
March 11 ,1975 and fled the country after its failure.Yossi Shain and Juan José Linz. "Between States: Interim Governments and Democratic Transitions", 1995. Page 149.] He was eventually rehabilitated after theNovember 25 ,1975 coup. In 1981 Spínola was promoted to the highest rank in the Army, Field Marshal.Ancestors
Ancestors of António Sebastião Ribeiro SpínolaReferences
* "Fotobiografias do Século XX", Photobiography of António de Spínola, Círculo de Leitores.
Persondata
NAME=Spínola, António de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Ribeiro de Spínola, António Sebastião (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=President of Portugal
DATE OF BIRTH=April 11 ,1910
PLACE OF BIRTH=Estremoz ,Portugal
DATE OF DEATH=August 13 ,1996
PLACE OF DEATH=Lisbon ,Portugal
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