Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, April 27, 1954) is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian diplomat and current Minister of External Relations

Ministry of External Relations (Brazil)

The Ministry of External Relations conducts Brazil's foreign relations with other countries. It is commonly referred to in Brazilian media and diplomatic jargon as the Itamaraty, after the palace which hosts the ministry...

, succeeding Chancellor Celso Amorim

Celso Amorim

Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim is a Brazilian diplomat who has been Minister of Defence since August 2011. Amorim was the Minister of Foreign Relations from 1993 to 1995 under President Itamar Franco and again from 2003 to 2011 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Before his appointment by Lula,...

. Patriota took office as foreign minister

Foreign minister

A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...

 on January 1, 2011.

A graduate in philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 from the University of Geneva

University of Geneva

The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...

 and later international relations

International relations

International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...

 by the Rio Branco Institute

Rio Branco Institute

The Rio Branco Institute is a graduate school of International Relations and diplomatic academy located in Brasília, Brazil. The institute was created on April 18, 1945, as part of the centennial celebration of the birth of the Baron of Rio Branco...

, Patriota has taken prominent positions within the foreign service such as Brazil's ambassador to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 between 2007 and 2009, Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs of the Ministry of External Relations, Cabinet Chief of Foreign Minister Chancellor Celso Amorim

Celso Amorim

Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim is a Brazilian diplomat who has been Minister of Defence since August 2011. Amorim was the Minister of Foreign Relations from 1993 to 1995 under President Itamar Franco and again from 2003 to 2011 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.Before his appointment by Lula,...

 and Secretary General of the Ministry of External Relations.

Positions held within the foreign service

• 1979-1982 - Diplomat at the United Nations office in Brasília
  Brasília
  Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
  
  
• 1990-1992 - Diplomat at the Foreign Policy Secretariat of the Ministry of External Relations
• 1992-1994 - Diplomatic Adviser to the Presidency
  President of Brazil
  The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...
  
  
• 1994-1999 - Diplomatic Adviser to the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in New York
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
  
• 1999-2003 - Minister at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in Geneva
  Geneva
  Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
  
  
• 2003-2004 - Secretary of Diplomatic Planning of the Ministry of External Relations
• 2004-2005 - Cabinet Chief of the Minister of External Relations
• 2005-2007 - Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the Ministry of External Relations
• 2007-2009 - Ambassador of Brazil in Washington
  Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
  
  
• 2009-2010 - Secretary-General of the Ministry of External Relations
• 2011— Minister of External Relations

Biography

Antonio de Aguiar Patriota was born in Rio de Janeiro on April 27, 1954. He was Deputy Foreign Minister from October 2009 to December 2010; Ambassador of Brazil to the United States from 2007 to 2009; Under Secretary General for Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry from 2005 to 2007; Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister, in 2004; and Secretary for Diplomatic Planning at the Foreign Ministry, in 2003.

Overseas, he also served at Brazil’s Permanent Mission to the International Organizations in Geneva (1999-2003), having acted for two years as Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization; at Brazil’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1994-1999), where he was a member of the Brazilian Delegation to the U.N. Security Council; at the Embassies of Brazil in Caracas (1988-1990) and Beijing (1987-1988); and at Brazil’s Permanent Mission in Geneva (1983-1987).

From 1992 to 1994, he was Deputy Diplomatic Advisor to then President Itamar Franco.

He graduated from Brazil’s Diplomatic Academy, the Rio Branco Institute, in 1979. His thesis for the Advanced Studies Course at the Rio Branco Institute, titled “The Security Council After the Gulf War: articulating a new paradigm for collective security”, was published in 1988.

Minister Antonio Patriota is married to Tania Cooper Patriota, who is currently the Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Bogotá and Caracas, and they have two sons, Miguel and Thomas.