Manuel Alegre | |
|---|---|
 Manuel Alegre in 2017 | |
| Honorary President of theSocialist Party | |
| Assumed office 7 January 2024 | |
| Secretary-General | Pedro Nuno Santos José Luís Carneiro |
| Preceded by | António Arnaut |
| Member of the Council of State | |
| In office 22 June 2022 – 19 June 2024 | |
| Appointed by | Assembly of the Republic |
| President | Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa |
| In office 15 July 2005 – 22 October 2015 | |
| Appointed by | Assembly of the Republic |
| President | Jorge Sampaio Aníbal Cavaco Silva |
| In office 29 April 1996 – 6 June 2002 | |
| Appointed by | Assembly of the Republic |
| President | Jorge Sampaio |
| Vice President of theAssembly of the Republic | |
| In office 27 October 1995 – 14 October 2009 | |
| President | António Almeida Santos João Bosco Mota Amaral Jaime Gama |
| Member of the Assembly of the Republic | |
| In office 5 April 2002 – 14 October 2009 | |
| Constituency | Lisbon |
| In office 2 June 1975 – 4 April 2002 | |
| Constituency | Coimbra |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte (1936-05-12)12 May 1936 (age 89) |
| Party | Socialist Party |
| Children | 3 |
Manuel Alegre de Melo DuarteGCLGCSEGCCa (born 12 May 1936) is a Portuguesepoet andpolitician. He was a candidate to thepresidency of the Portuguese Republic in2006 and2011, finishing in second place in both elections. For his literary work, he was awarded theCamões Prize in 2017.[1]
He is the son of Francisco José de Faria e Melo Ferreira Duarte, brother ofsportsmanMário Duarte, son of the 1stBaroness ofa Recosta, maternal grandson of the 1stBaron of Cadoro and matrilineal great-grandson of the 1stViscount ofoBarreiro, and wife Maria Manuela Alegre. His sister Maria Teresa Alegre de Melo Duarte is also aDeputy and is the widow of another Deputy, António Jorge Moreira Portugal (1931–1994). Their son isjournalist Manuel Alegre Portugal. As he once stated, his ancestors werehanged andbeheaded at the Praça Nova,Porto, during theLiberal Wars.[citation needed]
He was a member of thePortuguese Communist Party from his youth until theSoviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, which he staunchly opposed, in 1968. Today he's usually considered one of the most leftist members of the PortugueseSocialist Party. He voted against all the revisions of thePortuguese Constitution of 1976, and abstained at a commemorative vote for the 10th anniversary of the fall ofBerlin Wall, in 1999.[citation needed]
While studyinglaw at theUniversity of Coimbra, Alegre was noticed for his opposition toAntónio de Oliveira Salazar's dictatorial government - theEstado Novo regime. He wasconscripted, and sent to theAzores and later toPortuguese Angola, where his involvement in an attempt to military rebellion led to his imprisonment. After serving his prison term inLuanda, he returned toCoimbra, before going into exile in 1964. As a student at the University of Coimbra he was a very active figure of theAssociação Académica de Coimbra, the university's student's union, while member of the governing body, athlete and cultural agent (poetry and theatre). He would never graduate in law.
He would live the next ten years inAlgiers, where he was one of the main voices of a radio station directed to Portugal,Rádio Voz da Liberdade (Freedom's Voice), also calledRádio Argel, from where he reportedly led a series of activities supporting African forces opposing the Portuguese military intervention in thePortuguese Colonial War, including by airing privileged information regarding Portuguese strategy in the theater of war. The distribution of his first books was forbidden by Salazar's government, so they circulated insamizdat form. Alegre returned to Portugal in 1974, one week after theCarnation Revolution.[citation needed]
He joined the Socialisty Party almost immediately, and was elected to Parliament in every election from1975 to2005. He was also one of the vice-presidents of Parliament.
Several of his poems were made into songs, sung among others byZeca Afonso andAdriano Correia de Oliveira, and played byCarlos Paredes. His words were set to music by Tony Haynes on world jazz ensembleGrand Union Orchestra's 1997 album,The Rhythm of Tides.[2]
One of his poemsUma flor de verde pinho won 1976'sFestival RTP da Canção, who represented Portugal inEurovision Song Contest.
In2004, he lost toJosé Sócrates a bid for the party leadership.
In 2005, a statue in his honour was erected inCoimbra.
On 24 September 2005, he announced that he would be a candidate in the2006 presidential election, despite his party's official support for former presidentMário Soares as a candidate. On the elections held 22 January 2006, he ended up collecting 20.7% of the valid votes (the second largest amount after the elected President,Cavaco Silva, and ahead of his party's official candidate Mário Soares).
He was also a Member of thePortuguese Council of State, elected by theAssembly of the Republic.
Grand Cross of theOrder of Liberty, Portugal (GCL, 19 May 1989)[3]
Grand Cross of theMilitary Order of Saint James of the Sword, Portugal (GCSE, 20 May 2016)[3]
Grand Cross of theOrder of Camões, Portugal (GCCa, 15 April 2024)[4]He was once married to Isabel Sousa Pires, born inFigueira da Foz, without issue, and is now married to Mafalda Maria de Campos Durão Ferreira, born inLisbon, 13 December 1947, daughter of António Durão Ferreira and wife Fernanda Furtado de Antas de Campos and only sister of António Miguel de Campos Durão Ferreira (b. 21 January 1946, unmarried), and has three children:[5]
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| José Sócrates | 18,432 | 78.6 | |
| Manuel Alegre | 3,903 | 16.7 | |
| João Soares | 927 | 4.0 | |
| Blank/Invalid ballots | 175 | 0.7 | |
| Turnout | 23,437 | ||
| Source: Resultados[6] | |||
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aníbal Cavaco Silva | 2,773,431 | 50.5 | |
| Manuel Alegre | 1,138,297 | 20.7 | |
| Mário Soares | 785,355 | 14.3 | |
| Jerónimo de Sousa | 474,083 | 8.6 | |
| Francisco Louçã | 292,198 | 5.3 | |
| Garcia Pereira | 23,983 | 0.4 | |
| Blank/Invalid ballots | 102,785 | – | |
| Turnout | 5,590,132 | 61.53 | |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[7] | |||
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aníbal Cavaco Silva | 2,231,956 | 53.0 | |
| Manuel Alegre | 831,838 | 19.7 | |
| Fernando Nobre | 593,021 | 14.1 | |
| Francisco Lopes | 301,017 | 7.1 | |
| José Manuel Coelho | 189,918 | 4.5 | |
| Defensor Moura | 67,110 | 1.6 | |
| Blank/Invalid ballots | 277,593 | – | |
| Turnout | 4,492,453 | 46.52 | |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[8] | |||
Poetry
Prose
