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Biography of Mário SoaresName: Mário SoaresBirth Date: December 7, 1924 Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: Lisbon, Portugal Nationality: Portuguese Gender: Male Occupations: president Mário Soares Mário Soares (born 1924) was the first socialist president of Portugal and a long-time opponent of the right-wing Salazar regime.Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares was born in Lisbon on December 7, 1924. As a young boy he was greatly influenced by his father, a militant republican who spent considerable time in prison, in exile, or in hiding for his political activism. In the mid-1930s Soares' father started a private school, the Colégio Moderno, that reflected his deep-seated republican and liberal views. The young Soares subsequently lived and attended classes at this well-known private high school in Portugal. Later, Mário Soares attended the Classical University of Lisbon, where he became a student leader opposed to the right-wing authoritarian government of the day. In time he earned degrees in history, philosophy, and law, which, along with the influence of his father, prepared him well for …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…states. Portugal's integration into the economy of Western Europe strengthened the economy of Soares' country and stabilized the Portuguese political system. At home, Soares instituted popular informal town meetings with the citizens, and he rarely interefered with the work of the cabinet or legislature.Perhaps the most distinguished characteristic of Mário Soares as a politician was his ability to rebound after a loss. "There are victories and defeats in politics," he was quoted as saying after his 1986 presidential victory, "and what is necessary is to maintain your convictions, to keep battling." Associated Organizations Further Reading For a sympathetic account of Soares' life see Hans Janitschek's Mário Soares: Portrait of a Hero (1985). Two excellent studies of contemporary Portugal are found in Walter C. Opello, Jr.'s Portugal: From Monarchy to Pluralist Democracy (1991), and in Eric Solsten, ed., Portugal: A Country Study (Federal Research Division, Library of Congress,1993). |