This is a list of heads of state of Portugal from 1139 to the present day.
Between 1139 and 1910, Portugal had a Monarchy system, with all monarchs coming from a single ancestor, Afonso I of Portugal, although the direct lines were cut during the passing of time due to several events. In the almost 800 years of Monarchy, Portugal had four royal houses rulling the country. These houses were:
On 5 October 1910, a revolution overthrew the Monarchy and a Republic was implemented. Since then, the Republic has had four distinct phases:
See main article: List of Portuguese monarchs.
The Portuguese House of Burgundy, known as the Afonsine Dynasty, was the founding house of the Kingdom of Portugal. Prior to the independence of Portugal, the house ruled the feudal County of Portugal, of the Kingdom of Galicia. When Alphonso I Henriques declared the independence of Portugal, he turned the family from a comital house to a royal house which would rule Portugal for over two centuries.When Ferdinand I died, a succession crisis occurred and Ferdinand's daughter Beatrice of Portugal was proclaimed queen and her husband John I of Castile proclaimed king by the right of his wife. Her legitimacy as a monarch is disputed.[1] [2]
The House of Aviz, known as the Joanine Dynasty, succeeded the House of Burgundy as the reigning house of the Kingdom of Portugal. The house was founded by John I of Portugal, who was the Grand Master of the Order of Aviz. When King John II of Portugal died without an heir, the throne of Portugal passed to his cousin, Manuel, Duke of Beja. When King Sebastian of Portugal died, the throne passed to his uncle, Henry of Portugal (he might be called Henry II because Henry, Count of Portugal, father of Alphonso I of Portugal, was the first of that name to rule Portugal). When Henry died, a succession crisis occurred and António, Prior of Crato, was proclaimed António of Portugal.
The House of Habsburg, known as the Philippine Dynasty, is the house that ruled Portugal from 1581 to 1640. The dynasty began with the acclamation of Philip II of Spain as Philip I of Portugal in 1580, officially recognized in 1581 by the Portuguese Cortes of Tomar. Philip I swore to rule Portugal as a kingdom separate from his Spanish domains, under the personal union known as the Iberian Union.
The House of Braganza, also known as the Brigantine Dynasty, came to power in 1640, when John II, Duke of Braganza, claimed to be the rightful heir of the defunct House of Aviz, as he was the great great grandson of King Manuel I. John was proclaimed King John IV, and he deposed the House of Habsburg in the Portuguese Restoration War.
The descendants of Queen Maria II and her consort, King Ferdinand II (a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), came to rule in 1853. Portuguese law and custom treated them as members of the House of Braganza, though they were still Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasts. This has led some to classify these last four monarchs of Portugal as members of a new royal family, called the House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, though this view is not widely held.
See main article: List of presidents of Portugal. The complete list of presidents of the Portuguese Republic consists of the 20 heads of state in the history of Portugal since the 5 October 1910 revolution that installed a republican regime. This list includes not only those persons who were sworn into office as President of Portugal but also those who de facto served as head of state since 1910.
/Independent
| width=1% | No. | Portrait | President (Birth–Death) | width=8% | Elected | Term of office | width=20% | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| President of the Provisional Government of the Republic (1910–1911) | ||||||||||
| - | Teófilo Braga[3] (1843–1924) | — | 5 October 1910 | 24 August 1911 | Republican | [4] | ||||
| Presidents of the Republic (1911–1926) | ||||||||||
| 1 | Manuel de Arriaga (1840–1917) | 1911 | 24 August 1911 | 26 May 1915 | Republican later Democratic | [5] [6] | ||||
| 2 | Teófilo Braga (1843–1924) | May 1915 | 29 May 1915 | 5 October 1915 | Democratic | [7] | ||||
| 3 | Bernardino Machado (1851–1944) | August 1915 | 5 October 1915 | 5 December 1917 | Democratic | [8] | ||||
| - | Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: Sidónio Pais | — | 12 December 1917 | 28 April 1918 | – | [9] | ||||
| 4 | Sidónio Pais[10] (1872–1918) | April 1918 | 28 April 1918 | 14 December 1918 | National Republican or "Sidonist" | |||||
| - | Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: João do Canto e Castro | — | 14 December 1918 | 16 December 1918 | – | [11] | ||||
| 5 | João do Canto e Castro[12] (1862–1934) | December 1918 | 16 December 1918 | 5 October 1919 | National Republican or "Sidonist" | [13] | ||||
| 6 | António José de Almeida (1866–1929) | 1919 | 5 October 1919 | 5 October 1923 | Evolutionist Party later Republican Liberal | [14] | ||||
| 7 | Manuel Teixeira Gomes (1860–1941) | 1923 | 5 October 1923 | 11 December 1925 | Democratic | [15] | ||||
| 8 | Bernardino Machado (1851–1944) 2nd time | 1925 | 11 December 1925 | 31 May 1926 | Democratic | |||||
| width=1% | No. | Portrait | President (Birth–Death) | width=8% | Elected | Term of office | width=20% | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) (1926–1932) | ||||||||||
| 9 | José Mendes Cabeçadas[16] (1883–1965) | — | 31 May 1926 | 17 June 1926 | Military officer | [17] | ||||
| - | Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: Manuel Gomes da Costa | — | 17 June 1926 | 29 June 1926 | – | [18] | ||||
| 10 | Manuel Gomes da Costa (1863–1929) | — | 29 June 1926 | 9 July 1926 | Military officer | [19] | ||||
| - | Ministry (Head of State ex officio) President: Óscar Carmona | — | 9 July 1926 | 16 November 1926 | – | [20] | ||||
| 11 | Óscar Carmona[21] (1869–1951) | — | 16 November 1926 | 15 April 1928 | Military officer | |||||
| Estado Novo (New State) (1932–1974) | ||||||||||
| Óscar Carmona (1869–1951) | 1928 | 15 April 1928 | 26 April 1935 | Military officer from 1932 National Union | ||||||
| 1935 | 26 April 1935 | 15 April 1942 | ||||||||
| 1942 | 15 April 1942 | 20 April 1949 | ||||||||
| 1949 | 20 April 1949 | 18 April 1951 | ||||||||
| - | António de Oliveira Salazar[22] (1889–1970) (interim) | — | 18 April 1951 | 21 July 1951 | National Union | [23] | ||||
| 12 | Francisco Craveiro Lopes (1894–1964) | 1951 | 21 July 1951 | 9 August 1958 | National Union | [24] | ||||
| 13 | Américo Tomás (1894–1987) | 1958 | 9 August 1958 | 9 August 1965 | National Union from 1970 People's National Action | [25] | ||||
| 1965 | 9 August 1965 | 9 August 1972 | ||||||||
| 1972 | 9 August 1972 | 25 April 1974 | ||||||||
| width=1% | No. | Portrait | President (Birth–Death) | width=8% | Elected | Term of office | width=20% | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presidents appointed in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution (1974–1976) | ||||||||||
| - | National Salvation Junta[26] President: António de Spínola | — | 25 April 1974 | 15 May 1974 | – | [27] | ||||
| 14 | António de Spínola (1910–1996) | — | 15 May 1974 | 30 September 1974 | Military officer | |||||
| 15 | Francisco da Costa Gomes (1914–2001) | — | 30 September 1974 | 14 July 1976 | Military officer | [28] | ||||
| Presidents elected under the Constitution of the Republic (1976–present) | ||||||||||
| 16 | António Ramalho Eanes (born 1935) | 1976 | 14 July 1976 | 14 January 1981 | Military officer from 1985 Democratic Renewal | [29] | ||||
| 1980 | 14 January 1981 | 9 March 1986 | ||||||||
| 17 | Mário Soares (1924–2017) | 1986 | 9 March 1986 | 9 March 1991 | rowspan=2 | Socialist | [30] | |||
| 1991 | 9 March 1991 | 9 March 1996 | ||||||||
| 18 | Jorge Sampaio (1939–2021) | 1996 | 9 March 1996 | 9 March 2001 | rowspan=2 | Socialist | [31] | |||
| 2001 | 9 March 2001 | 9 March 2006 | ||||||||
| 19 | Aníbal Cavaco Silva (born 1939) | 2006 | 9 March 2006 | 9 March 2011 | rowspan=2 | Social Democratic | [32] | |||
| 2011 | 9 March 2011 | 9 March 2016 | ||||||||
| 20 | Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (born 1948) | 2016 | 9 March 2016 | 9 March 2021 | Social Democratic | [33] | ||||
| 2021 | 9 March 2021 | Incumbent | ||||||||
Assassinated.
Died in office of natural causes.
Resigned.
Forced to resign due to a coup d'état.