José Norton de Matos
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José Maria Mendes Ribeiro Norton de Matos, GCL (b. March 23, 1867 in Ponte de Lima, Portugal, d. January 3, 1955 in Ponte de Lima) was a general and a Portuguese politician.
[edit] Life
After attending college in Braga, and attending the Escola Académica in Lisbon in 1880, Norton de Matos became part of the mathematics faculty at the University of Coimbra in 1884. He later went to military school and, in 1898, departed for Portuguese India. There, he began his career in colonial administration.
Norton de Matos' return to Portugal coincided with Portugal's conversion into a republic. He was prepared to serve the new regime, and he soon became the chief of staff of the 5th military division. In 1912 he gained the post of governor-general of Angola. His leadership was considered instrumental in protecting the Portuguese colony from foreign powers such as England, Germany and France.
Norton de Matos was removed from his post in 1915 due to a new political situation that arose in Portugal during the First World War. He became the Minister of the Colonies for a short time after that.
[edit] Return to Portugal
In 1917, Norton de Matos exiled himself to London after disagreements with the new republic. He later returned and became the Portuguese delegate to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, which led to the Treaty of Versailles. Later he was named the High Commissioner of the Republic in Angola. In 1924 he became the Portuguese ambassador in London and in 1929 he was elected a Grand Master of the Masons in Portugal.
[edit] Later life
Norton de Matos participated in the rigged Portuguese presidential election of 1949, under the dictatorial Estado Novo regime, while demanding freedom to advertise his message and the close inspection of votes. The regime refused these demands, and Norton de Matos enjoyed a great deal of popular support and support among the opposition to the regime. He eventually gave up on the election.
He died in the city of his birth in 1955.
