Login
Login

Francisco Craveiro Lopes

{{short description|President of Portugal From 1951 to 1958}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = His Excellency

| name = Francisco Craveiro Lopes

| honorific-suffix = CvTE ComC GCA GCB

| image = Fotografia oficial do Presidente da República Francisco Craveiro Lopes.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 1951

| order = 12th

| office = President of Portugal

| term_start = 9 August 1951

| term_end = 9 August 1958

| primeminister = António de Oliveira Salazar

| predecessor = Óscar Carmona

| successor = Américo Tomás

| office2 = Member of the National Assembly

| term_start2 = 26 November 1945

| term_end2 = 18 June 1951

| constituency2 = Coimbra

| office1 = Governor of Portuguese India

| term_label1 = Acting

| term_start1 = September 1936

| term_end1 = July 1938

| president1 = Óscar Carmona

| predecessor1 = João Carlos Craveiro Lopes

| successor1 = José Ricardo Pereira Cabral

| birth_name = Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|4|12|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|9|2|1894|4|12|df=yes}}

| death_place = Lisbon, Portuguese Republic

| party = National Union

| spouse = Berta da Costa Ribeiro Arthur

| children = 4

| profession = Air force officer

| alma_mater = Lisbon Polytechnic School

| allegiance = {{flag|Portugal}}

| branch = {{air force|Portugal}}

| serviceyears = 1911–1964

| rank = Marshal of the air force

| commands = {{indented plainlist|

  • Tancos Air Base (1939)
  • Portuguese Legion (1944)
  • Air Base No. 4, on Terceira Island (1947)
  • 3rd Military Region, in Tomar (1951)

}}

| awards = Order of Christ
Order of Aviz
Order of the Tower and Sword
Order of the Bath
Royal Victorian Chain

| battles = First World War

| signature = AssinaturaCraveiroLopes.svg

}}

Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes {{post-nominals|post-noms=CvTE ComC GCA GCB}} ({{IPA|pt|fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku iˈʒinu kɾɐˈvɐjɾu ˈlɔpɨʃ}}; 12 April 1894 – 2 September 1964) was a Portuguese Air Force officer and politician who served as the 12th president of Portugal from 1951 to 1958.

Early life and career

Born in Lisbon, he was a son of {{ill|João Carlos Craveiro Lopes|pt}}, Portuguese army general and 122nd Governor-General of Portuguese India (1929–1936), and his wife Júlia Clotilde Cristiano Salinas.

He concluded his Colégio Militar studies by 1911, having then entered the Escola Politécnica de Lisboa, in the same year he joined a cavalry regiment. He succeeded his father as the 123rd General Governor of Portuguese India (1936–1938).{{cite web|url=http://www.ajaxbologna.it/Bandiere/Asia/In-Goa.htm|title=Goa 1510-1961|author=AJAX Club Bologna}}

Lopez served as the commander of the Portuguese volunteer forces during the Spanish Civil War. {{cite book |last=Gallagher |first=Tom |date=1983 |title=Portugal: A Twentieth Century Perspective |url=https://www.amazon.com/Portugal-Twentieth-Century-Interpretation-Tom-Gallagher/dp/071900876X |publisher=University of Bristol |page=144 |isbn=978-0719008764}}

Presidency

{{unreferencedsect|date=September 2024}}

Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar chose Craveiro Lopes as the regime's presidential candidate in 1951 to succeed the late Óscar Carmona. Initially, he was to run in what would have been only the second contested election of the Estado Novo, when naval officer Manuel Quintão Meireles filed to run against him. However, Quintão Meireles withdrew before election day, and Craveiro Lopes was elected unopposed.

Under the Constitution, the president was vested with near-dictatorial powers. In practice, Carmona had mostly turned over the government to Salazar. However, Craveiro Lopes was not willing to give Salazar the free hand that Carmona had given him. Despite this, he did not go as far as to dismiss Salazar; for all intents and purposes, the president's power to sack the prime minister was the only check on Salazar's power.

Nevertheless, Salazar picked the seemingly more pliant naval minister, Américo Tomás, as the regime's candidate in 1958. The Democratic Opposition then invited Craveiro Lopes to be their candidate, but he knew he stood no chance of winning and refused. The regime, however, as compensation promoted him to Marshal. He was involved in the failed military attempt to overthrow Salazar in 1961, led by the Defence Minister Júlio Botelho Moniz.

He died in Lisbon on 2 September 1964.

State visits

National honours

Craveeiro received the following national honours:{{cite web|url=https://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=153&list=1|title=Entidades Nacionais Agraciadas Com Ordens Portuguesas|language=pt}}

Foreign honours

Craveeiro received the following foreign honours:{{cite web|url=https://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=155&list=1|title=Entidades Nacionais Agraciadas Com Ordens Estrangeiras|language=pt}}

Family

He married Berta Ribeiro Artur (Lisbon, Pena, 15 October 1899 – Lisbon, Santa Maria de Belém, 5 July 1958), natural daughter of Engineer Sezinando Ribeiro Artur (Lisbon, 1875 – Lourenço Marques, 1918) by Maria Clara Pereira, by whom he had four children.

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes}}

  • [http://www.presidencia.pt/?idc=13&idi=27 Craveiro Lopes]. presidencia.pt

{{S-start}}

{{S-off}}

{{Succession box| before = Óscar Carmona | title = President of Portugal|years=1951–1958| after = Américo Tomás}}

{{S-end}}

{{PortuguesePresidents}}

{{Portuguese overseas empire}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craveiro Lopes, Francisco}}

Category:1894 births

Category:1964 deaths

Category:Politicians from Lisbon

Category:Portuguese military officers

Category:Presidents of Portugal

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword

Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Category:Marshals of the air force

Category:National Union (Portugal) politicians

Category:Governors-general of Portuguese India

Category:Field marshals of Portugal

Category:20th-century Portuguese politicians

Category:20th-century presidents in Europe