António Moreira Barbosa de Melo, GColL

Order of Liberty

The Order of Liberty, or Freedom, is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human dignification...

(born in Penafiel

Penafiel

Penafiel Municipality is located in Porto District in the North of Portugal.The municipal areas surrounding Penafiel City have a population of 71,801 and are made up of 38 parishes, comprising 212,82 km²....

, Lagares, 2 November 1932), is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 lawyer, politician and parliamentarian on several occasions.

Career

He graduated as a Licentiate

Licentiate

Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...

 and a Doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, where he became an investigator and a Cathedratic Professor.

He was one of the founders of the then Popular Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...

 together with Francisco Sá Carneiro

Francisco Sá Carneiro

Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro, GCTE, GCC, GCL founded the Portuguese Social Democratic Party in 1974 and was elected Prime Minister of Portugal in January 1980, but only held office for eleven months, dying in a plane crash with his partner, Snu Abecassis, on December 4, 1980...

, Francisco Pinto Balsemão

Francisco Pinto Balsemão

Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão, GCC , is a former Prime Minister of Portugal, who served from 1981 to 1983.-Background:He is the son of Henrique Patrício de Balsemão and wife Maria Adelaide van Zeller de Castro Pereira , granddaughter in male line of an adulterine son of King Pedro...

, Joaquim Magalhães Mota

Joaquim Magalhães Mota

Joaquim Jorge de Magalhães Saraiva da Mota , was a Portuguese lawyer and politician.-Background:...

, Carlos Mota Pinto

Carlos Mota Pinto

Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto, GCC, GCIP, was a Portuguese professor and politician.-Career:He graduated as a Licentiate in Law and Doctorate in Judicial Sciences from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. He was also a Professor at the Portuguese Catholic University and several foreign...

, João Bosco Mota Amaral

João Bosco Mota Amaral

João Bosco Soares da Mota Amaral , is a Portuguese politician. He served as the first President of the Autonomous Regional Government of the Azores from 1976 to 1995.-Career:...

, Alberto João Jardim

Alberto João Jardim

Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim, GCIH |Santa Luzia]], Funchal, Madeira Island) is a Portuguese politician who has been the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal, since 1978. He is currently among the most controversial politicians of Portugal.-Early years:Jardim was born...

 and António Marques Mendes

António Marques Mendes

António Joaquim Bastos Marques Mendes is a Portuguese lawyer and politician.-Background:He is a son of Joaquim Marques Mendes , Director of Services in the Correios, Telégrafos e Telefones, and wife António Joaquim Bastos Marques Mendes (b. Porto, Paranhos, March 30, 1934) is a Portuguese lawyer...

, in which party he exercised many offices at its national organs.

He integrated the Commission to the Elaboration of the Electoral Law for the Constituent Assembly in 1974, in which he was also a Deputy

Deputy (legislator)

A deputy is a legislator in many countries, particularly those with legislatures styled as a 'Chamber of Deputies' or 'National Assembly'.-List of countries:This is an list of countries using the term 'deputy' or one of its cognates....

, as he was also at the Assembly of the Republic

Assembly of the Republic

The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...

 from 1976 to 1977 and from 1991 to 1999.

He was elected the 9th President of the Assembly of the Republic during the 6th legislature (7 November 1991 - 26 October 1995). He was also a member of the Portuguese Council of State as the President of the Assembly of the Republic during the same period.