| Honorific-Prefix: | His Excellency |
| Francisco Pinto Balsemão | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | GCC GCIH GCL GO |
| Term Start2: | 12 January 2016 |
| President2: | Aníbal Cavaco Silva Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa |
| Appointer2: | Assembly of the Republic --> |
| Order1: | Prime Minister of Portugal |
| Term Start1: | 9 January 1981 |
| Term End1: | 9 June 1983 |
| President1: | António Ramalho Eanes |
| Deputy1: | Diogo Freitas do Amaral |
| Predecessor1: | Francisco Sá Carneiro |
| Successor1: | Mário Soares |
| Office3: | President of the Social Democratic Party |
| Term Start3: | 13 December 1980 |
| Term End3: | 27 February 1983 |
| 1Namedata3: | António Capucho |
| Predecessor3: | Francisco Sá Carneiro |
| Successor3: | Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos |
| Office4: | Minister of Social Affairs |
| Term Start4: | 3 August 1981 |
| Term End4: | 4 September 1981 |
| Primeminister4: | Himself |
| Predecessor4: | João Morais Leitão |
| Successor4: | Carlos Macedo |
| Office5: | Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister |
| Term Start5: | 3 January 1980 |
| Term End5: | 9 January 1981 |
| Primeminister5: | Francisco Sá Carneiro |
| Predecessor5: | Manuel da Costa Brás |
| Successor5: | Basílio Horta |
| Term Start7: | 4 November 1985 |
| Term End7: | 12 August 1987 |
| Constituency7: | Lisbon |
| Term Start8: | 3 June 1976 |
| Term End8: | 12 November 1980 |
| Constituency8: | Porto |
| Term Start9: | 2 June 1975 |
| Term End9: | 2 April 1976 |
| Constituency9: | Lisbon |
| Birth Date: | 1937 9, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Party: | Social Democratic Party |
| Alma Mater: | University of Lisbon |
| Occupation: | Journalist, newspaper editor, newspaper administrator, chief executive officer of Impresa media group, chair of the european publishers council |
| Signature: | Assinatura Francisco Pinto Balsemão.svg |
Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (pronounced as /pt/; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983.
Pinto Balsemão is the son of Henrique Patrício Pinto Balsemão (Guarda, 9 September 1897 – ?) and wife (married Lisbon, 21 May 1922) Maria Adelaide van Zeller de Castro Pereira (Sintra, 11 August 1897 – 2 March 1984).
Being a licentiate in Law from the University of Lisbon, Pinto Balsemão's pre-political career was in newspaper publishing. 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 and continued to direct it until 1980. He is one of top managers and owners of Impresa media group.
Pinto Balsemão was Member of parliament before the revolution (1969–1973), when, together with Francisco Sá Carneiro, Joaquim Magalhães Mota, Carlos Mota Pinto, João Bosco Mota Amaral, Alberto João Jardim, António Barbosa de Melo and António Marques Mendes, he helped to found the Social Democratic Party (PSD), of which he is currently member number 1. In 1975 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly, 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.
Following the victory of the Democratic Alliance (a coalition led by the PSD) in two parliamentary elections (in 1979 and 1980), Pinto Balsemão held senior positions in two cabinets led by Prime Minister Sá Carneiro.
When Sá Carneiro was killed in an air accident on 4 December 1980, the Social Democratic Party chose Pinto Balsemão to succeed him. Despite his reputation for competence, he was widely perceived as lacking Sá Carneiro's charisma. He had difficulty maintaining the level of support enjoyed by his party, which had been based to a large extent on Sá Carneiro's personal popularity. He also had to cope with friction within the Democratic Alliance, and found the Democratic and Social Centre leader, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, a difficult ally. These factors contributed to his defeat in the parliamentary election of 1983. He finally retired from Parliament in 1987 though not from politics.
Pinto Balsemão currently serves as Chairman of the European Publishers Council[1] and as chief executive officer of Impresa media group in Portugal. He was the founder on 6 October 1992 of Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), the first Portuguese private television network.
He is also a member of Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group, and as such has attracted some controversy. He participated in more than 30 Bilderberg-Conferences since 1981.
He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State, elected by the Assembly of the Republic and chosen by the then President of the Republic, his fellow party colleague and former president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
He married firstly and divorced Maria Isabel de Lacerda Pinto da Costa Lobo, daughter of Manuel da Costa Lobo Cardoso (Vila Real, Vila Real, 15 November 1907 – ?), Director-General of the Banco de Angola, and wife (married Luanda, 20 October 1934) Maria Amélia de Lacerda Rebelo Pinto (Quissol, Malanje – ?), and had two children:
He married secondly Maria Mercedes Aliu Presas, of Spanish descent, and had two children:
Out of wedlock he had a son by Isabel Maria Supico Pinto (born Lisbon, 26 October 1942), second wife without issue of Vasco Maria Vasques da Cunha d'Eça da Costa e Almeida, 3rd Viscount of Maiorca (Lisbon, Encarnação, 12 May 1923 – 16 January 2018), natural daughter of Minister Clotário Luís Supico Pinto (1909–1990, 937th Associate of the Second Tauromachic Club, son of Liberato Damião Ribeiro Pinto and Maria Augusta Supico), by actress Maria Adelaide da Silva Lalande (Castelo Branco, Salgueiro do Campo, 7 November 1913 – Lisbon, 21 March 1968), wife of actor Ribeirinho:
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (23 November 1981)[2]
Grand Cross of the National Order of the Southern Cross (25 November 1981)[2]
Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (8 September 1982)[2]
Grand Cross Order of the Flag of the Republic of Hungary (26 November 1982)[2]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2 December 1982)[2]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX (15 March 1983)[2]
Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (20 March 1989)[2]
Grand Cross of the Order of the Yugoslav Flag (8 June 1983)[2]
Belgium
Brazil
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Spain