“On the commemoration of another anniversary of Mário Soares’ birth, the President of the Republic highlights the significance of celebrating his centenary, which allowed for a broader national consensus on the importance of Freedom, Democracy, and Europe in his thinking and in the future of Portugal”, states a note published on the Presidency’s website.
The former Prime Minister and President of the Republic, Mário Soares, was born on December 7, 1924, in Lisbon, and passed away on January 7, 2017, at the Red Cross Hospital, also in the capital, after nearly a month of hospitalization.
Soares held the highest offices in the country, and his life is intertwined with the very history of Portuguese democracy: he fought the dictatorship, founded the PS, and served as President of the Republic.
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares was the founder and first leader of the PS and Foreign Minister after the revolution of April 25, 1974.
Prime Minister from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, Soares was responsible for requesting Portugal’s accession to the then European Economic Community (EEC) in 1977 and signing the respective treaty in 1985. In 1986, he won the presidential elections and served as President of the Republic for two terms until 1996.
