Born in
Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the eldest son of
Baltasar Rebelo de Sousa (1921–2001) and his wife Maria das Neves Fernandes Duarte (1921–2003). He has claimed that his mother had Jewish ancestry.[4] He is named after
Marcelo Caetano, the last prime minister of the
Estado Novo regime and a friend of his father.[5][6]
He had a weekly program of political analysis every Sunday on
public TV station
RTP after previously having a similar program on the private TV station
TVI. President
Jorge Sampaio dissolved the Assembly of the Republic, a move that also meant dismissing the Government at a time when it had a stable coalition majority, and calling for anticipated elections, which led to the defeat of Santana Lopes and the election of the Socialists under
José Sócrates.
In 2010, he left RTP and returned to TVI to do the same program that he had before.
He was a leading figure on the
anti-abortion side of the
2007 abortion referendum. He even founded a website titled "Assim Não" (Not like this), which was divulged with a famous introductory video.[18] It became so well known that it was parodied in Saturday Night Live-fashion by famous humour group
Gato Fedorento.[19]
President of Portugal, 2016–present
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adding to it. (January 2022)
On 24 January 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was
elected as
President of Portugal in the first round of voting. He stood as an independent, appealing for moderation and cross-party consensus.[20] During his election campaign, he promised to repair political divisions and the hardship of Portugal's 2011–14 bailout. Unlike his predecessor,
Aníbal Cavaco Silva, he had never previously held a top state position.[21]
In March 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa asked parliament to authorize a
state of emergency to contain the
COVID-19 pandemic; this marked the first time the country declared a state of emergency nationwide in 46 years of democratic history.[22]
In December 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced his intention to run for office again in the
2021 Portuguese presidential election.[23] Marcelo was re-elected president in January 2021, with 60.7% of the votes, the third highest vote margin ever in presidential elections in Portugal since the
Carnation Revolution. He was also the first candidate ever to win the vote in all
municipalities, ranging from 51.3% in the
Beja District to 72.16% in
Madeira.[24]
In December 2017, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa underwent emergency surgery at
Curry Cabral Hospital in order to treat an incarcerated
umbilical hernia.[33][34] The procedure was performed by
Eduardo Barroso, a friend of the president.[35] He was discharged from the hospital and lauded the Portuguese National Health Service, considering it an important achievement of Portuguese democracy.[36]
In October 2019, he underwent planned
cardiac catheterization at
Santa Cruz Hospital, Carnaxide, in the outskirts of Lisbon, after accumulated calcium was detected in one of his coronary arteries.[39]
On 8 March 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa suspended all his public agenda and returned to his private home in
Cascais, entering a voluntary quarantine period for 14 days after being revealed that a group of students from
Felgueiras, who had visited
Belém Palace some days before, had also been quarantined after a positive case of
COVID-19 was detected in their school.[40] Marcelo subsequently tested negative for the virus and worked remotely for a period during the COVID-19 pandemic.[41][42][43][44][45]
On 11 January 2021, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tested positive for
COVID-19, after a contact with a positive case in his staff. He was reportedly asymptomatic, and canceled his appointments, opting to remain in
self-isolation.[46] Three further COVID-19 tests yielded negative results.[47] Some physicians said that a
false positive PCR-RT test, although possible, was unlikely,[47] and tentatively attributed the subsequent negative tests to a low
viral load.[48] On 13 January, however, the
Lisbon and Tagus Valley regional public health authority confirmed that the President was considered to have had a low-risk exposure, and was therefore simply under
passive surveillance for two weeks: the President was instructed that he could resume his agenda save for any events in crowded public places.[49]
In December 2021, he underwent planned surgery to remove two inguinal hernias at the Military Hospital in Lisbon.[50]
On 5 July 2023, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa collapsed during a visit to the
NOVA UniversitySchool of Science and Technology, in
Almada. He was taken to
Santa Cruz Hospital "as a precaution". His chief of staff, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, assured the situation was probably due to the heat and to the President's "heavy schedule". After being submitted to several medical exams, the President was discharged four hours later, with a
Holter monitor, and addressed journalists on his way out from the hospital, saying he had had an episode of
low blood pressure since he had skipped lunch — as he usually does, replacing it with Fortimel, a medical nutrition supplement — and had been offered a glass of warm
moscatel shortly before he fainted that "must have upset, probably, [his] digestion". The physicians recommended rest, though the President's personal physician, Daniel de Matos, remarked their recommendation would in all likelihood fall on deaf ears. His scheduled presence at several events was nonetheless cancelled until 9 July, but the President recorded video messages to be displayed at those events. Only indoor audiences at Belém Palace remained scheduled.[51][52][53][54]
Personal life
On 22 July 1972, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa married Ana Cristina da Gama Caeiro da Mota Veiga in the parish of
São Miguel de Machede in
Évora.[55] His wife, born on 4 June 1950 in the
Santos-o-Velho parish of
Lisbon, is the daughter of
António da Mota Veiga and Maria Emília da Gama Caeiro. In the following years, Sousa and Mota Veiga had two children:
The couple
separated in 1980 and subsequently
divorced, although Marcelo, citing his
Roman Catholic faith, believes marriage lasts until death.[56] He started dating his former student Rita Amaral Cabral in 1981, who at the time was his fellow lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the
University of Lisbon.[57] They continue to entertain a casual relationship, but live separately.[58]
^
abcdPortuguesa, Presidência da República.
"O Presidente". www.presidencia.pt (in Portuguese).
Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
^Portugal, Grand Union.
"Composição". www.historico.portugal.gov.pt (in Portuguese).
Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.