António José de Almeida,
GCTEThe Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit is a Portuguese order of knighthood and the pinnacle of the Portuguese honours system. It was created by King Afonso V in 1459....
,
GCAThe Military Order of Aviz , previously to 1910 Royal Military Order of Aviz , previously to 1789 Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz , previously Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz or Friars of Santa Maria of Évora, is a Portuguese Order of Chivalry...
,
GCCThe Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
,
GCSE, (ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ʒuˈzɛ dɨ aɫˈmɐjdɐ;
PenacovaPenacova Municipality is a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. It has a population of 16,725 and an area of 220 km2. The seat is the town of Penacova.-Parishes:* Carvalho* Figueira de Lorvão* Friúmes* Lorvão* Oliveira do Mondego* Paradela...
, São Pedro de Alva, July 27, 1866 -
LisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, October 31, 1929), son of José António de Almeida and wife Maria Rita das Neves, was a
PortugueseThe Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
political figure. He served as the
sixth President of PortugalPortugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....
from 1919 until 1923.
He studied medicine at the
University of Coimbra becoming a medical doctor and during his term as Minister for the Interior, he was the founder of both the
University of Lisbon and the
University of PortoThe University of Porto is a Portuguese public university located in Porto, and founded 22 March 1911. It is the largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students and has one of the most noted research outputs in Portugal...
in 1911. He was one of the most eloquent
republicanThe Portuguese Republican Party was a Portuguese political party formed during the late years of monarchy that proposed and conducted the substitution of the Constitutional Monarchy by the Portuguese First Republic....
tribunes, and, after the Republic proclamation, as interior minister he led the moderate wing of the Portuguese Republican Party, that opposed
Afonso CostaAfonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL was a Portuguese lawyer, professor, and republican politician.-Political career:Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party, and he was one of the major figures of the Portuguese First Republic. He was a republican deputy in the Chamber of Deputies...
. The moderates elected
Manuel de ArriagaManuel José de Arriaga Brum da Silveira e Peyrelongue was a Portuguese lawyer, the first Attorney-General and the first elected President of the First Portuguese Republic, following the abdication of King Manuel II of Portugal and a Republican Provisional Government headed by Teófilo Braga Manuel...
for first elected
PresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
, in 24 August 1911, defeating Afonso Costa's candidate,
Bernardino Machado. António José de Almeida founded his own party, the Republican Evolutionist Party, that was in the opposition. On June 12, 1916 he became the 6th Minister for Finance and also the 96th
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of Portugal. Later, both the Republican Evolutionist Party and the Republican Union,
Manuel de Brito CamachoManuel de Brito Camacho a military officer, writer, publicist and politician, who among other positions, was Minister of Public Works, Commerce and Industry and Republican High Commissioner to Mozambique...
's party, joined to form the new Republican Liberal Party, in 1919, that went on to win the legislative elections. In 6 August 1919, António José de Almeida was elected the 6th President of the Republic, and was the only President of the
1st RepublicThe Portuguese First Republic spans a complex 16 year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy marked by the 5 October 1910 revolution and the 28 May coup d'état of 1926...
, that completed the full four years mandate. He faced the greatest political instability of the regime and almost resigned. He was also remembered for his voyage to Brazil, in 1922, during the country's 100 years independence birthday, where he was noted as a brilliant speaker.
He married on December 14, 1910 to Maria Joana de Morais Perdigão Queiroga, daughter with her younger sisters Antónia and Catarina of Joaquim José Perdigão Queiroga (b.
ÉvoraÉvora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
) and first wife Maria Cândida de Morais and half-sister of
Perdigão QueirogaJosé Manuel Nobre Perdigão Queiroga , son with his sister Maria José of Joaquim José Perdigão Queiroga and second wife Mariana Nobre, was a Portuguese film producer and film director.He married Aida de las Nieves Villar y Trimiño José Manuel Nobre Perdigão Queiroga (Évora, Sé e São Pedro, June 12,...
, and on December 27, 1911 they had an only daughter Maria Teresa Queiroga de Almeida, married to medical doctor Júlio Gomes da Cunha de Abreu and had issue.