A son of Francisco Pinto Balsemão, Francisco Pedro Balsemão, expressed gratitude on Wednesday for the overwhelming support and “thousands of messages” the family has received following the passing of the businessman and former prime minister on Tuesday.
“We wanted to thank everyone, the country as a whole, for the literally thousands of messages we have received in the past few hours. Not a day has passed since Francisco Pinto Balsemão’s death, and this [the messages] moves us. We are very grateful because many people care about our father, the grandfather to his grandchildren,” he stated in an interview with SIC Notícias.
Francisco Pedro Balsemão mentioned a “wave of gratitude” from everyone, including workers of the Impresa Group, which “in this very difficult moment for the family helps somewhat to compensate for the loss and the pain we feel at this moment.”
“One of Francisco Pinto Balsemão’s defining traits was his enormous heart. Of course, he was a highly intelligent person, very complete on different levels, with a sense of humor,” he enumerated, adding that despite all these qualities—which he could further elaborate on—it was his heart that truly made a difference, especially for “all the people who sent messages, called” or whom he met today, beyond the family environment.
“The fact that every Christmas he would come [to the station] to spend part of his Christmas with the people working on Christmas Day, delivering traditional cakes… It’s an example that many people have now recalled. With family, he was always very generous as well. We have fantastic memories,” he noted.
Francisco Pedro Balsemão, who, besides being a son, is also the CEO of the Impresa Group, was asked what should be known about him beyond his public persona, about the ‘man at home.’ “He is someone who had a public persona, but much of what people know is: he always sought to transmit those values at home,” he explained, referring to the podcast he did in 2023, ‘Deixar o Mundo Melhor’, during the 50th anniversary of Expresso: “Ever since I remember spending time with him, he told us: ‘We are born, it’s something ephemeral, it’s something that, in our case, because we are a privileged family by being born in a certain environment with some assets, we have this obligation. What he conveyed outwardly was not something that could be seen as hypocritical and that he didn’t also practice within the home.”‘
Discussing family “affection,” Francisco Pedro Balsemão made it clear that his father was also a “demanding” person. “But a father who always wanted his children to be—these are his words—united, strong, and fun, and, therefore, much in his image, who always sought unity as a manager. We are five siblings, from three different mothers, and we are very united, very strong, and very fun,” he revealed, attributing it to Pinto Balsemão, who managed to “keep this bond.”
“He leaves a legacy for the whole country,” he stated, noting that many of the messages received, including from other media outlets, demonstrate that “the public person could not live without the person of emotion.” “The connections he created in Portugal, the way he left the country better, the world better—in Europe—, that is part of a whole and of him being a very complete person,” he declared.
“He was always a step ahead of his time,” he asserted. Discussing the 88 years, Francisco Pedro Balsemão noted that not all moments were ‘highs.’ “There were times when he was on the brink of giving up and didn’t. He always fought to the end for what he believed in: freedom. He was a very free person.”
“I make a point of keeping all the good memories, everything I learned from him. […]. A lot of experience, the notion of never ceasing to be curious, of never stopping looking to the future. And while a father, the idea that we cannot take ourselves too seriously. What we do is important […] and obviously, we have to respect his legacy,” he stated.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão died on Tuesday of “natural causes.” He was a unique figure in both politics and media. “Founder of democracy,” “one of the most remarkable personalities of the past sixty years,” as noted by the prime minister and the President of the Republic. “Portugal will never forget him.”
