Born inLisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the eldest son ofBaltasar Rebelo de Sousa (1921–2001) and his wife Maria das Neves Fernandes Duarte (1921–2003). He has claimed that his mother had Jewish ancestry.[5] He is named afterMarcelo Caetano, the last prime minister of theEstado Novo regime and a friend of his father.[6][7]
He had a weekly program of political analysis every Sunday onpublic TV stationRTP after previously having a similar program on the private TV stationTVI. PresidentJorge Sampaio dissolved the Assembly of the Republic, a move that also meant dismissing the Government at a time when it had a stable coalition majority, and calling for anticipated elections, which led to the defeat of Santana Lopes and the election of the Socialists underJosé Sócrates.
In 2010, he left RTP and returned to TVI to do the same program that he had before.
He was a leading figure on theanti-abortion side of the2007 abortion referendum. He even founded a website titled "Assim Não" (Not like this), which was divulged with a famous introductory video.[19] It became so well known that it was parodied inSaturday Night Live-fashion by famous humour groupGato Fedorento.[20]
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President-elect Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa delivering his victory speech on election night, 24 January 2016
On 24 January 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa waselected asPresident of Portugal in the first round of voting. He stood as an independent, appealing for moderation and cross-party consensus.[21] During his election campaign, he promised to repair political divisions and the hardship of Portugal's 2011–14 bailout. Unlike his predecessor,Aníbal Cavaco Silva, he had never previously held a top state position.[22]
In March 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa asked parliament to authorize astate of emergency to contain theCOVID-19 pandemic; this marked the first time the country declared a state of emergency nationwide in 46 years of democratic history.[23]
In December 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced his intention to run for office again in the2021 Portuguese presidential election.[24] Marcelo was re-elected president in January 2021, with 60.7% of the votes, the third highest vote margin ever in presidential elections in Portugal since theCarnation Revolution. He was also the first candidate ever to win the vote in allmunicipalities, ranging from 51.3% in theBeja District to 72.16% inMadeira.[25]
During his presidency, Rebelo de Sousa has publicly supported making restitution and acknowledging abuses made during Portugal's colonialist history and the country's role in theAtlantic slave trade.[26]
In December 2017, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa underwent emergency surgery atCurry Cabral Hospital in order to treat an incarceratedumbilical hernia.[35][36] The procedure was performed byEduardo Barroso [pt], a friend of the president.[37] He was discharged from the hospital and lauded the Portuguese National Health Service, considering it an important achievement of Portuguese democracy.[38]
In October 2019, he underwent plannedcardiac catheterization at Santa Cruz Hospital, Carnaxide, in the outskirts of Lisbon, after accumulated calcium was detected in one of his coronary arteries.[41]
On 8 March 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa suspended all his public agenda and returned to his private home inCascais, entering a voluntary quarantine period for 14 days after being revealed that a group of students fromFelgueiras, who had visitedBelém Palace some days before, had also been quarantined after a positive case ofCOVID-19 was detected in their school.[42] Marcelo subsequently tested negative for the virus and worked remotely for a period during the COVID-19 pandemic.[43][44][45][46][47]
On 11 January 2021, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tested positive forCOVID-19, after a contact with a positive case in his staff. He was reportedly asymptomatic, and canceled his appointments, opting to remain inself-isolation.[48] Three further COVID-19 tests yielded negative results.[49] Some physicians said that afalse positive PCR-RT test, although possible, was unlikely,[49] and tentatively attributed the subsequent negative tests to a lowviral load.[50] On 13 January, however, theLisbon and Tagus Valley regional public health authority confirmed that the President was considered to have had a low-risk exposure, and was therefore simply underpassive surveillance for two weeks: the President was instructed that he could resume his agenda save for any events in crowded public places.[51]
In December 2021, he underwent planned surgery to remove two inguinal hernias at the Military Hospital in Lisbon.[52]
On 5 July 2023, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa collapsed during a visit to theNOVA UniversitySchool of Science and Technology, inAlmada. He was taken to Santa Cruz Hospital "as a precaution". His chief of staff, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, assured the situation was probably due to the heat and to the President's "heavy schedule". After being submitted to several medical exams, the President was discharged four hours later, with aHolter monitor, and addressed journalists on his way out from the hospital, saying he had had an episode oflow blood pressure since he had skipped lunch — as he usually does, replacing it with Fortimel, a medical nutrition supplement — and had been offered a glass of warmmoscatel shortly before he fainted that "must have upset, probably, [his] digestion". The physicians recommended rest, though the President's personal physician, Daniel de Matos, remarked their recommendation would in all likelihood fall on deaf ears. His scheduled presence at several events was nonetheless cancelled until 9 July, but the President recorded video messages to be displayed at those events. Only indoor audiences at Belém Palace remained scheduled.[53][54][55][56]
On 22 July 1972, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa married Ana Cristina da Gama Caeiro da Mota Veiga in the parish of São Miguel de Machede inÉvora.[57] His wife, born on 4 June 1950 in theSantos-o-Velho parish ofLisbon, is the daughter ofAntónio da Mota Veiga and Maria Emília da Gama Caeiro. In the following years, Sousa and Mota Veiga had two children:
The coupleseparated in 1980 anddivorced in 1983,[2] although Marcelo, citing hisRoman Catholic faith, believes marriage lasts until death.[58] He started dating his former student Rita Amaral Cabral in 1981, who at the time was his fellow lecturer at the Faculty of Law of theUniversity of Lisbon.[59] They continue to entertain a casual relationship, but live separately.[60]
In 2023, President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa became embroiled in a controversy following aTVI program that suggested he had intervened to expedite treatment for Brazilian twins withZolgensma, a rare and highly expensive drug administered in a single dose costing two million euros. Allegations of corruption and influence peddling have emerged surrounding this event, also implicating the President's son, who is reportedly a friend of well-connected Brazilians linked to the family of the Brazilian children. These claims have been raised by various sectors of Portuguese politics and the media.[61] Between July 2019 and July 2021, Infarmed, the Portuguese medicines agency, approved 17 applications for authorisation of the medicine given to the Brazilian twins. In most cases, authorisation took no more than a day.[62]
On 23 April 2024, he compared the current and previous prime ministers, saying that "António Costa was slow, because he is oriental" andLuís Montenegro, a rural personality in Sousa's opinion, "is not oriental but he is slow", at a dinner with foreign journalists.[63]
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