Afonso Costa
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| Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) |
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| Order: | 59th, 64th and 66th (5th, 10th and 12th of the Republic) |
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| Term of Office | (1st) January 9, 1913 - February 9, 1914 (2nd) November 29, 1915 - March 16, 1916 (3rd) April 25, 1917 - December 8, 1917 |
| Predecessor: | (1st) Duarte Leite (2nd) José de Castro (3rd) António José de Almeida |
| Successor: | (1st) Bernardino Machado (2nd) António José de Almeida (3rd) Sidónio Pais (in a presidential government) |
| Date of Birth | March 6, 1871 |
| Place of Birth: | Seia |
| Date of Death | May 11, 1937 |
| Place of Death: | Paris, France |
| Wife: | Alzira Coelho de Campos de Barros Abreu |
| Occupation: | Lawyer, lecturer and professor of law and diplomat |
| Political Party: | Democratic |
Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCL (pron. IPA [ɐ'fõsu 'kɔʃtɐ]; Seia, March 6, 1871–Paris, May 11, 1937) was a Portuguese lawyer, professor and republican politician.
He was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party, and was one of the major figures of the Portuguese First Republic. He was a republican deputy at the Chamber of Deputies, during the last years of the Monarchy. After the proclamation of the republic, he was Justice Minister, during Teófilo Braga's Provisional Government (5 October 1910 - 3 September 1911). He signed the controversial laws that expelled the Jesuits from Portugal and extinguished all the religious orders, and the Law of the Separation of the Church and the State. He became a symbol of the religious anticlericalism of the I Republic. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal three times. The first time, he was called by President Manuel de Arriaga to form the government, as the leader of the Republican Democratic Party.
He was President of the Ministry (Prime Minister) and Finance Minister for a year (January 9, 1913-February 9, 1914), and was responsible for the first stabilization of the Portuguese economy since the first liberal days.[1] He returned to office, as President of the Ministry and Finance Minister, from 29 November 1915 to March 16, 1916. He was again President of the Ministry, from April 25, 1917 to December 8, 1917, in a national unity government independent, named the Sacred Union, to support Portugal's entrance in World War I. After Sidónio Pais' military coup d`état, in December 1917, he went to exile in Paris, and never returned again to live permanently in Portugal.
He was invited other times, during the First Republic, to become Head of Government, but always refused. After the 28 May coup d'état, he strongly opposed the Military Dictatorship and the Estado Novo (New State) regime. He died in Paris on May 11, 1937.
Because of his staunch anti-clericalism, his detractors nicknamed him o Mata-Frades (the Friar Killer).
| Preceded by: Duarte Leite |
Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) 1913–1914 |
Succeeded by: Bernardino Machado |
| Preceded by: José de Castro |
Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) 1915–1916 |
Succeeded by: António José de Almeida |
| Preceded by: António José de Almeida |
Prime Minister of Portugal (President of the Ministry) 1917 |
Succeeded by: Sidónio Pais |
[edit] References
- ^ "The great achievement of the Costa ministry was to balance the budget for 1913-1914, the first time that this had happened in nearly a century." The Portuguese Parliamentary Republic, 1910-1926, by Stanley G. Payne, Chapter 23 of A History of Spain and Portugal, Volume 2
[edit] See also
- Portuguese First Republic
- History of Portugal
- List of Prime Ministers of Portugal
- Timeline of Portuguese history (Fourth Dynasty)
- Timeline of Portuguese history (First Republic)
- Politics of Portugal
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