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Craveiro Lopes, Francisco

Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes

b. 12 Apr 1894, Lisbon
d. 2 Sep 1964, Lisbon

Title: Presidente da República (President of the Republic)
Term: 9 Aug 1951 - 9 Aug 1958
Chronology: 3 Aug 1951, election to the office of President of the Republic is declared upon counting popular votes (cast 22 Jul 1951), session of the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (Supreme Court of Justice) [1]
  9 Aug 1951,  took an oath of office as President of the Republic, session of the Assembleia Nacional (National Assembly), Palácio da Assembleia Nacional (São Bento), Lisbon [2]
  9 Aug 1958, expiration of term
Biography:
Reared in a military family; was educated at a military college and polytechnic school at Lisbon; joined the Army as volunteer (1911); graduated (1915) from the cavalry branch of the Escola do Exército (Army Academy); during World War I, served in Mozambique; promoted to alferes (1915), lieutenant (1917), captain (1922), major (1930), lieutenant-colonel (1939), colonel (1942), brigadier (1947), general (1949), and marshal (1958); attended training course for pilots at Chartres (1917); actively participated in development of the Portuguese air force; briefly served as president of municipal administration of Sintra (1926); served as a member of Portuguese colonial administration in India; appointed interim governor (1934-1935) and governor of Damão (1935-1936); commanded air base of Tancos; attended high command course and later worked as professor of the Institute of High Military Studies; commander-in-chief of the Portuguese Legion (Legião Portuguesa, 1944-1950); elected to the Assembleia Nacional (National Assembly, 1945-1951); served as commander of the air base of Lajes (1949-1951) and commander of the Third Military District (1951); as candidate of the National Union (União Nacional), was elected President of the Republic (1951); served mostly as ceremonial figure, but favored liberalization of the authoritarian regime of Estado Novo; was not approved as candidate for reelection due to disagreement with António de Oliveira Salazar; turned to criticism of the National Dictatorship; was involved in the conspiracy of Botelho Moniz (1961), but avoided prosecution.
Biographical sources: "Os Presidentes da República Portuguesa", coord. by António Costa Pinto and Maria Inácia Rezola (Lisboa: Temas & Debates, 2001) ; "Os presidentes e os governos da república no século XX", by Alberto Laplaine Guimarães... [et al.] (Lisboa: Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Imprensa Nacional - Casa da Moeda, 2000)
Elections:

Candidate Popular vote (22 Jul 1951)
Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes 1,067,529
Manuel Carlos Quintão Meireles 1,342
Source of electoral results: Diario de Lisboa, No. 10,299, 3 Aug 1951, p. 1.

[1] Diario de Lisboa, No. 10,299, 3 Aug 1951, p. 1.
[2] Diário das Sessões, No. 108, 10 Aug 1951, p. 1023.