Humberto Delgado
Encyclopedia
Order of Liberty
The Order of Liberty, or Freedom, is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human dignification...
(ũˈbɛɾtu dɛɫˈɡadu; 15 May 1906 – 13 February 1965) was a General of the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Air Force and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Delgado was born in Brogueira, Torres Novas
Torres Novas
Torres Novas is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 270.0 km² and a total population of 37,155 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 17 parishes, and is located in the district of Santarém. The city of Torres Novas has about 15,000 inhabitants. This city has a castle...
. He was the son of Joaquim Delgado and wife Maria do Ó Pereira and had three younger sisters, Deolinda, Aida and Lídia.
He began his military career by joining Colégio Militar
Colégio Militar
Colégio Militar is a military school in Lisbon, Portugal. It was founded by General António Teixeira Rebelo in 1803. Its initial location was S. Julião da Barra Fort, in Oeiras...
in 1916. He became the Director of the Secretariado Nacional de Aeronáutica Civil (National Secretariat of Civil Aeronautics), General-Commander of the Legião Portuguesa
Portuguese Legion (Estado Novo)
The Portuguese Legion was a Portuguese paramilitary state organization founded in 1936 during dictator António de Oliveira Salazar's right-wing regime, the Estado Novo. It was dissolved in 1974....
, Deputy National Commissar of the Mocidade Portuguesa
Mocidade Portuguesa
The Mocidade Portuguesa was a Portuguese youth organization under the right-wing regime of the Estado Novo. Membership was compulsory between the ages of 7 and 14, and voluntary until the age of 25....
and Procurator to the Corporative Chamber.
Although initially a staunch supporter of the right-wing dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
, and the youngest general in Portuguese history, his passage as a Military Attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
and Aeronautic Attaché to the Portuguese Embassy in Washington, D.C.
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....
in 1952 pushed him into the defence of democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
ideals, and inspired him to run as a candidate to the Portuguese presidency
President of Portugal
Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....
in 1958.
As incumbent president Craveiro Lopes had been coerced to resign by Salazar, Delgado faced naval minister and staunch conservative Américo Thomaz
Américo Thomaz
Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás, GCC, GOA, GOSE , archaic spelling: Américo Thomaz, was a Portuguese admiral and politician.-Career:Tomás became minister of the Navy in 1944...
. In a famous interview on 10 May 1958, in the Chave d'Ouro café, when asked what would be his attitude towards Salazar, Delgado made one of the most famous quotations of Portuguese politics
Politics of Portugal
Politics in Portugal take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President of the Republic is the head of state and has several significant political powers, which he...
: Obviamente, demito-o! (Obviously, I'll sack him!).
His outspoken attitude earned him the epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...
of General sem Medo (General with no fear). Nevertheless, Delgado was ultimately credited with only around 25% of the votes with 52,6% in favor of Thomaz, despite the consensual opinion that he was the true winner and some evidence of ballots stuffed with votes for Thomaz by the PIDE
PIDE
In 1969, Marcello Caetano changed the name PIDE to DGS . The death of Salazar and the subsequent ascension of Caetano brought some attempts at democratization, in order to avoid popular insurgency against censorship, the ongoing colonial war and the general restriction of civil rights...
.
He was expelled from the Portuguese military, and took refuge in the 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 embassy before going into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
, spending much of it in 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...
and later in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, as a guest of Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella
Mohamed Ahmed Ben Bella was a soldier and Algerian revolutionary, who became the first President of Algeria.-Youth:...
.
In 1964, he founded the Portuguese National Liberation Front
Portuguese National Liberation Front
Portuguese National Liberation Front was a Portuguese political movement, founded in Rome in 1964 by General Humberto Delgado, following a split from the Patriotic National Liberation Front , founded two years earlier, in December 1962, and based in Algiers...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, stating in public that the only solution to end the Estado Novo would be by a military coup, while many others advocated a national uprising approach.
Delgado and his Brazilian secretary, Arajaryr Moreira de Campos, would be murdered on 13 February 1965, after being lured into an ambush by the regime's secret police (PIDE
PIDE
In 1969, Marcello Caetano changed the name PIDE to DGS . The death of Salazar and the subsequent ascension of Caetano brought some attempts at democratization, in order to avoid popular insurgency against censorship, the ongoing colonial war and the general restriction of civil rights...
) near the border town of Olivenza
Olivenza
Olivenza or Olivença is a town in the autonomous community of Extremadura, situated on a disputed section of the border between Portugal and Spain...
, when trying to enter Portugal clandestinely. The official version was that he was killed in self defense, but he was not even armed when he was shot, and his secretary was strangled. Their bodies would only be found some two months later, near the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
village of Villanueva del Fresno
Villanueva del Fresno
Villanueva del Fresno is a town in Badajoz Province in Extremadura, Spain.Within its municipal area is the farm "High and Low Goat" of 2,688 hectares that was expropriated in 1990 by the Board of Extremadura to the Duchess of Alba to deliver a group of commoners in the nearby town of...
. Casimiro Monteiro
Casimiro Monteiro
Casimiro Emérito Rosa Teles Jordão Monteiro , also known as Agente Montiero, was a notorious figure in Portuguese Goa...
, a PIDE agent, shot and killed General Delgado, and strangled his Brazilan secretary, (Monteiro was also involved in the killing of Eduardo Mondlane, founder of Frelimo, Mozambique's Liberation Movement). Portuguese dictator Salazar, who approved the operation, when was told about the killings, said simply: "Uma maçada" ("Such a bother"). He later appeared on national television claiming to be ignorant of the political police's involvement and blaming quarrels between opposition forces for the event.
Some historians claim that Spanish authorities knew about the involvement of the Portuguese secret police and staged the finding of the decomposing corpses by two local boys just not to be involved.
In 1990, Humberto Delgado was posthumously promoted to Marshal
Marshal of the Air Force
Marshal of the Air Force is the English term for the most senior rank in a number of air forces. The ranks described by this term can properly be considered marshal ranks....
of the Portuguese Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
The Portuguese Air Force is the air force of Portugal. Formed on July 1, 1952, with the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval united in a single independent Air Force, it is one of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces and its origins dates back to 1912, when the military aviation...
http://www.portugal-info.net/people/politicians.htm - being the only person to hold this rank -, his name was given to an Avenue
Street name
A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. The street name usually forms part of the address...
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
and his body was moved to the National Pantheon, in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. The significance of this gesture is that some former Portuguese Presidents are there.
Marriage and offspring
Married to Maria Iva Theriaga Leitão Tavares de Andrade, born around 1910, he had three children:- Humberto Ivo de Andrade da Silva Delgado, born at São Sebastião da Pedreira, LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, on 24 November 1933, airline pilot for TAP PortugalTAP PortugalTAP Portugal, commonly known as TAP, is the national airline of Portugal. It has its head office in Building 25 on the grounds of Portela Airport in Lisbon, and has been a member of the Star Alliance since 14 March 2005, the same day on which the company celebrated its 60th anniversary...
(Portuguese Aerial Transportation). - Iva Humberta de Andrade da Silva Delgado, who always championed her father's cause, unmarried and without issue.
- Maria Humberta de Andrade da Silva Delgado, unmarried and without issue.