Duarte Leite : Political career Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Duarte Leite

Duarte Leite


Prime Minister of Portugal
In office 16 June 1912 – 9 January 1913
President	Manuel de Arriaga
Preceded by	Augusto de Vasconcelos
Succeeded by	Afonso Costa
Ambassador of Portugal to Brazil
In office 7 December 1912 – 1 May 1931
Nominated by	Manuel de Arriaga
Preceded by	Bernardino Machado
Succeeded by	Martinho Nobre de Melo
Minister of the Interior
In office 16 June 1912 – 9 January 1913
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Silvestre Falcão
Succeeded by	Rodrigo Rodrigues
Minister of Finance
In office 4 September 1911 – 12 November 1911
Prime Minister	João Chagas
Preceded by	José Relvas
Succeeded by	Sidónio Pais

Personal details
Born	(1864-08-11)11 August 1864 Porto, Portugal
Died	29 September 1950(1950-09-29) (aged 86) Porto, Portugal
Political party	Portuguese Republican (1897–1911) Independent (1911–1950)
Spouse	Maria Eulália Falcão
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Coimbra

Duarte Leite Pereira da Silva, GCC (11 August 1864 in Porto – 29 September 1950 in Porto; Portuguese pronunciation: [duˈaɾtɨ ˈlɐjtɨ]), was a Portuguese historian, mathematician, journalist, diplomat and politician. He graduated in Mathematics at the University of Coimbra, in 1885. He taught at the Politecnic Academy of Porto, from 1886 to 1911. Meanwhile, he was also the director of the newspaper diary "A Pátria". As a historian, he published many studies, later compiled in "História dos Descobrimentos" (History of the Discoveries), in 2 volumes.

Political career

After the overthrow of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910, he was Minister of Finance during the Augusto de Vasconcelos government (1911–1912), and succeeded him, as Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, from 16 June 1912 to 9 January 1913.

From 1914 to 1931 he served as Portuguese ambassador to Brazil. He was a candidate to the Presidency of the Republic in the elections held in the Congress of the Republic, in 1925. Faithful all his life to his left-wing republican principles, he became a member of the 1945–48 Movement of Democratic Unity, which during its brief lifespan functioned as the first form of legalized opposition to Salazar's far-right Estado Novo (New State) regimen.