Óscar Carmona
Óscar Carmona by Henrique Medina
11th President of Portugal (3rd of the Ditadura Nacional) (1st of the Estado Novo)
In office 9 July 1926 – 18 April 1951
Prime Minister	Himself José Vicente de Freitas Artur Ivens Ferraz Domingos Oliveira António de Oliveira Salazar
Preceded by	Manuel Gomes da Costa
Succeeded by	António de Oliveira Salazar (interim) Francisco Craveiro Lopes (effective)
97th Prime Minister of Portugal (43rd of the Republic) (3rd of the Ditadura Nacional)
In office 9 July 1926 – 18 April 1928
President	Himself
Preceded by	Manuel Gomes da Costa
Succeeded by	José Vicente de Freitas
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 3 June 1926 – 6 July 1926
Prime Minister	José Mendes Cabeçadas (3 June 1926–19 June 1926) Manuel Gomes da Costa (19 June 1926–6 July 1926)
Preceded by	Armando Humberto da Gama Ochoa
Succeeded by	Martinho Nobre de Melo
Minister for War
In office 15 November 1923 – 18 December 1923
Prime Minister	António Ginestal Machado
Preceded by	António Maria da Silva (interim) Fernando Augusto Freiria (effective)
Succeeded by	António Germano Ribeiro de Carvalho
In office 9 July 1926 – 16 November 1926
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Manuel Gomes da Costa
Succeeded by	Abílio Passos e Sousa
Born	24 November 1869(1869-11-24) Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	18 April 1951 (aged 81) Lisbon, Portuguese Republic
Political party	Independent National Union from 1932
Spouse(s)	Maria do Carmo Ferreira da Silva
Children	Cesaltina Amélia, António Adérito and Maria Inês
Occupation	Military officer (Marshal)

António Óscar Fragoso Carmona, ComC, GCA, ComSE, (often called António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona, Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ˈɔʃkaɾ fɾɐˈɡozu kaɾˈmonɐ]; Lisbon, 24 November 1869-Lisbon, 18 April 1951) was the 11th President of Portugal (1926-1951), having been Minister of War in 1923 and then General Dictator (officially Prime Minister) of Portugal.

Background

In January 1914 he married Maria do Carmo Ferreira da Silva (Chaves, 28 September 1878 - 13 March 1956), daughter of Germano da Silva and wife Engrácia de Jesus. With this marriage he legitimized their three children.

Presidency

1945 stamp of Carmona

Carmona saw his chance of rising in power after the 28th May revolution of 1926. A series of temporary rulers were elected by the military, with the first, José Mendes Cabeçadas being succeeded by Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, and then Carmona, who had been the Minister for Foreign Affairs between 3 June and 6 July of that year.

In 1927 Carmona appointed António de Oliveira Salazar as Minister of Finances. Impressed by Salazar's abilities, Carmona, who had been the 134th Prime Minister, made Salazar President of the Council in 1932. As a result of this Salazar was now superior to Carmona. In 1933, with a new constitution of the "Estado Novo" in force, Carmona was finally made President of Portugal.

Unlike his predecessor Gomes da Costa, Carmona had not fought in a battle as a military leader: when the Portuguese went to Flanders in World War I, Carmona gave orders to his men and stayed in his office. Although the Constitution nominally made Carmona chief executive, in practice after 1933 he was little more than a puppet of Salazar.

However, apart from his political subservience to Salazar, Carmona played an important role during the popular revolts of 1935-1936 against Salazar. Carmona calmed the revolt by making speeches mentioning peace and security. He followed the same approach in World War II, to encourage the entire country with his attractive speeches, nevertheless having tremendous fights with his superior, Salazar. Salazar was able to fire Craveiro Lopes, Carmona's successor, but felt unable to fire Carmona because of the latter's reputation.

Carmona's period of office as President ended with his death, in 1951. He is buried in the Jerónimos Monastery at Belém, near Lisbon.

Publications

Carmona wrote a book of rules for the Cavalry School in 1913, and the book "Prefácio" in 1928.

Trivia

The town of Uíge, Angola was called Carmona after him.¹ It had this name until 1975 when the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola become independent.

He is the grand-uncle of the former Mayor of Lisbon Carmona Rodrigues (2004–2007).

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Óscar Carmona

v • d • e Presidents of Portugal First Republic Manuel de Arriaga · Teófilo Braga · Bernardino Machado · Sidónio Pais · Canto e Castro · António José de Almeida · Teixeira Gomes · Bernardino Machado Second Republic Mendes Cabeçadas · Gomes da Costa · Óscar Carmona · Oliveira Salazar · Craveiro Lopes · Américo Thomaz Third Republic National Salvation Junta · António de Spínola · Costa Gomes · Ramalho Eanes · Mário Soares · Jorge Sampaio · Cavaco Silva