António de Spínola
Encyclopedia
António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (generally referred to as António de Spínola, though this particular surname
never had a particle), GCTE
, ComA
(Santo André, Estremoz, April 11, 1910 – Lisbon
, August, 13 1996) was a Portuguese
soldier
, conservative politician
and author
, who was important in the transition to democracy following the Portuguese Carnation Revolution
.
and first wife Maria Gabriela Alves Ribeiro, both natives of Madeira
.
in 1920, beginning what would be a very successful military career. By 1928, Spínola was at Portugal's Military Academy, where he stood out as a young and promising cavalry officer.
In Anjos, Lisbon
, by August 1932, he married Maria Helena Martin Monteiro de Barros (14 January 1913 - 23 May 2002), daughter of João de Azevedo Monteiro de Barros and his German
wife Gertrud Elisabete Martin.
In 1939, he became adjunct-de-camp of the Guarda Nacional Republicana (Republican National Guard). In 1941 he travelled to the German-Russian Front, as an observer, to monitor Wehrmacht
movements during the encirclement of Leningrad
(the Portuguese volunteers had been incorporated into the Blue Division
).
In 1961, guided by António de Oliveira Salazar
, he offered himself for voluntary service in Portuguese colonies of West Africa. Between 1961 and 1963, he held the command of the 345th Cavalry Battalion in Angola
, distinguishing himself and his unit. At the end of his tenure, he was nominated for, and served as, the Military Governor of Guinea-Bissau
from 1968, and again in 1972, during the period of the Colonial War
, where his administration favoured a policy of respect for ethnic Guineans and the traditional authorities. At the same time, he continued to practice a range of initiatives in the War, from clandestine meetings (he met secretly with the President of Senegal
, Léopold Sédar Senghor
, at one point) to armed incursions to neighbouring states (such as Operation Green Sea, which saw the assault by Portuguese Army Commandos into Conakry
, Guinea
).
In November 1973 he returned to Lisbon, on the invitation of Salazar's successor, Marcello Caetano, to head the Overseas portfolio: which he refused, due to the government's intransigence on the Portuguese colonies. A month later, on 17 January 1974, he was asked to be the Vice-Chief of the Defence Council of the Armed Forces, on the advise of Francisco da Costa Gomes
, a post that he would be removed from in March. Shortly later, he would publish Portugal e o Futuro (Portugal and the Future), where he expressed the idea that the only solution to the Colonial Wars was the discontinuation of the conflict.
(Movement of the Armed Forces) he received from the President of the Council of Ministers, Marcello Caetano, the rendition of the Government (which was in refuge in the Carmo Barracks). Although General Spínola did not play an important role, Marcelo Caetano insisted he would only surrender power to Spínola. This, ironically, allowed Spínola to assume an important public place as a leader of the revolution, although that was not what the MFA originally intended. The formation of the Junta de Salvação Nacional
(National Salvation Junta), formed in the days following the Carnation Revolution, allowed Spínola to take on the role of President of the Republic.
Spínola met with Mobutu Sese Seko
, the President of Zaire, on 15 September 1974 on Sal Island in the Cape Verde
, crafting a plan to empower Holden Roberto
of the National Liberation Front of Angola
, Jonas Savimbi
of UNITA
, and Daniel Chipenda
leader of the MPLA's eastern faction (a rival MPLA leader Agostinho Neto
) while retaining the façade of national unity; Mobutu and Spínola wanted to diminish Neto's importance and present Chipenda as the MPLA leader (Mobutu particularly preferring Chipenda to Neto because Chipenda supported autonomy for the Zairean province of Cabinda
and Neto did not). The group also relied on the immense petroleum reserves of the Angolan exclave, estimated at around 300 million tons, which the Mobutu government required for economic survival.
. His resignation partly due to what he saw as the profound move to the political left, their affects on the military and the independence of the Portuguese colonies; discontent over these changes he tried to intervene politically to mitigate the movements of the MFA program. He resigned fifteen days later on 30 September 1974, after just four months in power, when he realized he would not be able to block the application of the MFA program.
His appeals to the maioria silenciosa (silent majority), to resist the political radicalization of the left, after the failed of 28 September 1974 coup
, and his tentative involvement in the rightist counter-revolution on 11 March 1975 (wherein he fled to Spain, then Brazil) were clear examples that Spínola had changed his allegiances. In the same year, he presided over the Exército de Libertação de Portugal (ELP), the Liberation Army of Portugal, a paramilitary terrorist group of the extreme-right. As the author Günter Wallraff
wrote in his book Aufdeckung einer Verschwoerung - die Spínola Aktion, Spínola was always interested in returning to power and eliminating his political adversaries. During Spínola's exile to Brazil, he was approached by Wallraff who had infiltrated Spínola's group, pretending to be an arms dealer working for Franz-Josef Strauss, a conservative and leader of the Christian Social Union
in Bavaria. Spínola's group was the MDLP - Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal (Democractic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal) an anti-communist network of terrorist bombers, responsible for the death of a priest, and whose operatives included Carlos Paixão, Alfredo Vitorino, Valter dos Santos and Alcides Pereira. As their leader, Spínola had met with Wallraff to negotiate the purchase of arms and had supporters in the Alentejo who awaited the word to regain power (which Wallraff submitted as proof in order to detain Spínola by Swiss authorities). But there was never enough proof to charge him or his conspirators in court.
But even his extreme swing would not affect his importance in the Carnation Revolution. In 1981 Spínola was promoted to the highest rank in the Army: Field Marshal. His prestige would be rehabilitated officially on 5 February 1987, by President Mário Soares
, who bestowed on him the Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada (Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword
), for:
On August 13, 1996, Spínola died at the age of 86, victim of a pulmonary embolism
.
The mayor of the city of Lisbon
, António Costa, marked the 100 years since António de Spínola's birth in a ceremony attended by President Cavaco Silva, which included the presentation of a plaque and naming of a new avenue in the capital.
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
never had a particle), GCTE
Order of the Tower and Sword
The 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....
, ComA
Order of Aviz
The 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...
(Santo André, Estremoz, April 11, 1910 – Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon 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...
, August, 13 1996) was 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...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, conservative politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, who was important in the transition to democracy following the Portuguese Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
.
Biography
He was a son of António Sebastião SpínolaAntónio Sebastião Spínola
António Sebastião Spínola was an Inspector General of Finances and Chief of Cabinet of the Finance Minister Professor Oliveira Salazar and afterwards of Finance Minister Professor João Pinto da Costa Leite, 4th Conde de Lumbrales, Councilor and Administrator of the Fundação da Casa de Bragança,...
and first wife Maria Gabriela Alves Ribeiro, both natives of Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
Career
Spínola entered the Colégio MilitarColégio Militar
Colégio Militar is a military school in Lisbon, Portugal. It was founded by General António Teixeira Rebelo in 1803. Its initial location was S. Julião da Barra Fort, in Oeiras...
in 1920, beginning what would be a very successful military career. By 1928, Spínola was at Portugal's Military Academy, where he stood out as a young and promising cavalry officer.
In Anjos, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon 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...
, by August 1932, he married Maria Helena Martin Monteiro de Barros (14 January 1913 - 23 May 2002), daughter of João de Azevedo Monteiro de Barros and his German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
wife Gertrud Elisabete Martin.
In 1939, he became adjunct-de-camp of the Guarda Nacional Republicana (Republican National Guard). In 1941 he travelled to the German-Russian Front, as an observer, to monitor Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
movements during the encirclement of Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
(the Portuguese volunteers had been incorporated into the Blue Division
Blue Division
The Blue Division officially designated as División Española de Voluntarios by the Spanish Army and 250. Infanterie-Division in the German Army, was a unit of Spanish volunteers that served in the German Army on the Eastern Front of the Second World War.-Origins:Although Spanish leader Field...
).
In 1961, guided by António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
, he offered himself for voluntary service in Portuguese colonies of West Africa. Between 1961 and 1963, he held the command of the 345th Cavalry Battalion in Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, distinguishing himself and his unit. At the end of his tenure, he was nominated for, and served as, the Military Governor of Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
from 1968, and again in 1972, during the period of the Colonial War
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War , also known in Portugal as the Overseas War or in the former colonies as the War of liberation , was fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974, when the Portuguese regime was...
, where his administration favoured a policy of respect for ethnic Guineans and the traditional authorities. At the same time, he continued to practice a range of initiatives in the War, from clandestine meetings (he met secretly with the President of Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...
, at one point) to armed incursions to neighbouring states (such as Operation Green Sea, which saw the assault by Portuguese Army Commandos into Conakry
Conakry
Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
).
In November 1973 he returned to Lisbon, on the invitation of Salazar's successor, Marcello Caetano, to head the Overseas portfolio: which he refused, due to the government's intransigence on the Portuguese colonies. A month later, on 17 January 1974, he was asked to be the Vice-Chief of the Defence Council of the Armed Forces, on the advise of Francisco da Costa Gomes
Francisco da Costa Gomes
Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA |Chaves]], 30 June 1914 – Lisbon, Lapa, 31 July 2001), was a Portuguese military officer and politician, the 15th President of the Portuguese Republic .-Life:...
, a post that he would be removed from in March. Shortly later, he would publish Portugal e o Futuro (Portugal and the Future), where he expressed the idea that the only solution to the Colonial Wars was the discontinuation of the conflict.
Carnation revolution
On 25 April 1974, as a representative in the MFA - Movimento das Forças ArmadasMovimento das Forças Armadas
The Movement of the Armed Forces was an organisation of lower-ranked left-leaning officers in the Portuguese Armed Forces which was responsible for the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, a military coup in Lisbon which ended the corporatist New State regime in Portugal, the Portuguese...
(Movement of the Armed Forces) he received from the President of the Council of Ministers, Marcello Caetano, the rendition of the Government (which was in refuge in the Carmo Barracks). Although General Spínola did not play an important role, Marcelo Caetano insisted he would only surrender power to Spínola. This, ironically, allowed Spínola to assume an important public place as a leader of the revolution, although that was not what the MFA originally intended. The formation of the Junta de Salvação Nacional
National Salvation Junta
The National Salvation Junta was a group of military officers designated to maintain the government of Portugal in April 1974, after the Carnation Revolution had overthrown the Estado Novo dictatorial regime. This junta functioned between 1974 and 1976, following a communiqué of its president,...
(National Salvation Junta), formed in the days following the Carnation Revolution, allowed Spínola to take on the role of President of the Republic.
Spínola met with Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
, the President of Zaire, on 15 September 1974 on Sal Island in the Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
, crafting a plan to empower Holden Roberto
Holden Roberto
Holden Álvaro Roberto founded and led the National Liberation Front of Angola from 1962 to 1999. His memoirs are unfinished.-Early life:...
of the National Liberation Front of Angola
National Liberation Front of Angola
The National Front for the Liberation of Angola was a militant organization that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence under the leadership of Holden Roberto. The FNLA became a political party in 1992....
, Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974/75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling...
of UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
, and Daniel Chipenda
Daniel Chipenda
Daniel Chipenda fought in the Angolan War of Independence, serving as the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola's field commander in the Eastern Front before founding and leading the Eastern Revolt, a faction of the MPLA. He later joined the National Liberation Front of Angola , but left,...
leader of the MPLA's eastern faction (a rival MPLA leader Agostinho Neto
Agostinho Neto
António Agostinho Neto served as the first President of Angola , leading the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the war for independence and the civil war...
) while retaining the façade of national unity; Mobutu and Spínola wanted to diminish Neto's importance and present Chipenda as the MPLA leader (Mobutu particularly preferring Chipenda to Neto because Chipenda supported autonomy for the Zairean province of Cabinda
Cabinda (province)
Cabinda is an exclave and province of Angola, a status that has been disputed by many political organizations in the territory. The capital city is also called Cabinda. The province is divided into four municipalities - Belize, Buco Zau, Cabinda and Cacongo.Modern Cabinda is the result of a fusion...
and Neto did not). The group also relied on the immense petroleum reserves of the Angolan exclave, estimated at around 300 million tons, which the Mobutu government required for economic survival.
Exile to death
Spínola lasted as the first post-Revolution President from 15 May 1974 until September 30 of the same year, to be substituted by General Francisco da Costa GomesFrancisco da Costa Gomes
Francisco da Costa Gomes, ComTE, GOA |Chaves]], 30 June 1914 – Lisbon, Lapa, 31 July 2001), was a Portuguese military officer and politician, the 15th President of the Portuguese Republic .-Life:...
. His resignation partly due to what he saw as the profound move to the political left, their affects on the military and the independence of the Portuguese colonies; discontent over these changes he tried to intervene politically to mitigate the movements of the MFA program. He resigned fifteen days later on 30 September 1974, after just four months in power, when he realized he would not be able to block the application of the MFA program.
His appeals to the maioria silenciosa (silent majority), to resist the political radicalization of the left, after the failed of 28 September 1974 coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, and his tentative involvement in the rightist counter-revolution on 11 March 1975 (wherein he fled to Spain, then Brazil) were clear examples that Spínola had changed his allegiances. In the same year, he presided over the Exército de Libertação de Portugal (ELP), the Liberation Army of Portugal, a paramilitary terrorist group of the extreme-right. As the author Günter Wallraff
Günter Wallraff
Günter Wallraff is a famous German writer and undercover journalist.-Research methods:Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions and tabloid journalism...
wrote in his book Aufdeckung einer Verschwoerung - die Spínola Aktion, Spínola was always interested in returning to power and eliminating his political adversaries. During Spínola's exile to Brazil, he was approached by Wallraff who had infiltrated Spínola's group, pretending to be an arms dealer working for Franz-Josef Strauss, a conservative and leader of the Christian Social Union
Christian Social Union of Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany...
in Bavaria. Spínola's group was the MDLP - Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal (Democractic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal) an anti-communist network of terrorist bombers, responsible for the death of a priest, and whose operatives included Carlos Paixão, Alfredo Vitorino, Valter dos Santos and Alcides Pereira. As their leader, Spínola had met with Wallraff to negotiate the purchase of arms and had supporters in the Alentejo who awaited the word to regain power (which Wallraff submitted as proof in order to detain Spínola by Swiss authorities). But there was never enough proof to charge him or his conspirators in court.
But even his extreme swing would not affect his importance in the Carnation Revolution. In 1981 Spínola was promoted to the highest rank in the Army: Field Marshal. His prestige would be rehabilitated officially on 5 February 1987, by President Mário Soares
Mário Soares
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL, KE , Portuguese politician, served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.-Family:...
, who bestowed on him the Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada (Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword
Order of the Tower and Sword
The 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....
), for:
- ...his heroic military and civic service and for being a symbol of the April Revolution and first President of the Republic after the dictatorship...
On August 13, 1996, Spínola died at the age of 86, victim of a pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...
.
The mayor of the city of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon 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...
, António Costa, marked the 100 years since António de Spínola's birth in a ceremony attended by President Cavaco Silva, which included the presentation of a plaque and naming of a new avenue in the capital.
Published works
- Por Uma Guiné Melhor (1970);
- Linha de Acção (1971);
- No Caminho do Futuro (1972);
- Por Uma Portugalidade Renovada (1973);
- Portugal e o Futuro (1974);
- Ao Serviço de Portugal (1976);
- País sem Rumo (1978).