| Genre: | Documentary |
| Developer: | Rádio e Televisão de Portugal |
| Presenter: | Maria Elisa |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Num Episodes: | 24 |
| Company: | Rádio e Televisão de Portugal |
| Channel: | RTP 1 |
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 25 March 2007, the winner being António de Oliveira Salazar, Portugal's Prime Minister from 1932 to 1968.
The series started in October 2006, with each episode featuring small groups of candidates considered amongst the Greatest Portuguese. Based on voting results, the list of 10 most voted-for personalities were revealed on 14 January 2007, in alphabetical order. All of the 10 finalists were deceased. The ten finalists were then featured in individual documentary episodes, followed by a second round of voting within these top ten. On 25 March the voting results for the final 10, and the full list of 100, was announced.
There are 19 women in the final list of the top 100 Greatest Portuguese, with singer and actress Amália Rodrigues rating the highest, at number 14. The list included 33 then-living persons, with former president and prime minister Mário Soares rating the highest, at number 12. A total of 66 on the list (including the 33 then-living) are predominantly 20th century figures. Of the 100 candidates presented in the opening programs, the only (likely) fictional person was Brites de Almeida, a baker who legend says killed six Castilian soldiers during the 1335 Battle of Aljubarrota, a battle in which Portuguese independence was confirmed; she appeared at number 51 when the final list was released.
Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar, whose episode 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%).
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, and Afonso I 1st with 21%.[2] The difference of these statistically conducted polls to the final result of the Os Grandes Portugueses program suggest that the voting for the program, consisting of voluntary telephone calls, may have been skewed by repeat voters in general or organized groups of repeat voters with vested interests.
| Name | Share of Top 10 votes | Birth | Death | Occupation | ||
| António de Oliveira Salazar | 41.0% | 1889 | 1970 | President of the Council of Ministers for 36 years during the authoritarian period of the Estado Novo | ||
| Álvaro Cunhal | 19.1% | 1913 | 2005 | Communist leader during the Estado Novo regime and during the post-Carnation Revolution political scene | ||
| Aristides de Sousa Mendes | 13.0% | 1885 | 1954 | Diplomat who fought against his own government for the safety of Jews living in Europe, during World War II, saving thousands of people. | ||
| Afonso I | 12.4% | 1109 | 1185 | Founder and first king of Portugal | ||
| Luís de Camões | 4.0% | 1524 | 1580 | Epic and lyrical poet, author of the national epic Os Lusíadas | ||
| John II | 3.0% | 1455 | 1495 | Thirteenth king of Portugal and restorer of the Atlantic Ocean and African-coast explorations | ||
| Henry the Navigator | 2.7% | 1394 | 1460 | Infante and fomenter of the Portuguese discoveries | ||
| Fernando Pessoa | 2.4% | 1888 | 1935 | Modernist poet and writer widely known for the employment of multiple heteronyms | ||
| Marquês de Pombal | 1.7% | 1699 | 1782 | Minister of Kingdom of José I and responsible for the reconstruction of Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake | ||
| Vasco da Gama | 0.7% | 1469 | 1524 | First explorer to discover the sea route from Europe to India |
| Position | Name | Lived | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Salgueiro Maia | 1944–1992 | soldier, a key figure in the Carnation Revolution of 1974 | |
| 12 | Mário Soares | 1924–2017 | former President of the Republic | |
| 13 | Saint Anthony of Lisbon | 1195–1231 | saint | |
| 14 | Amália Rodrigues | 1920–1999 | fado singer | |
| 15 | Eusébio | 1942–2014 | 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 | 1919–2012 | historian, TV host | |
| 27 | Aníbal 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 Portugal | 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 | 1938–2017 | 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 | 1936–2021 | 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 | 1939–2021 | 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 | 1935-2022 | painter | |
| 100 | Maria João Pires | born 1944 | pianist |
The SIC Notícias programme Eixo do Mal (Axis of Evil) held a parallel vote for Os Piores Portugueses (The Worst Portuguese), also won by António de Oliveira Salazar.
Other countries have produced similar shows; see Greatest Britons spin-offs