Francisco Craveiro Lopes

His Excellency Francisco Craveiro Lopes
President of Portugal
In office 9 August 1951 – 9 August 1958
Prime Minister	António de Oliveira Salazar
Preceded by	Óscar Carmona
Succeeded by	Américo Tomás
Interim Governor-General of the Portuguese India
In office 17 September 1936 – 12 July 1938
President	Óscar Carmona
Preceded by	João Carlos Craveiro Lopes
Succeeded by	José Ricardo Pereira Cabral
Personal details
Born	Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes (1894-04-12)12 April 1894 Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	2 September 1964(1964-09-02) (aged 70) Lisbon, Portuguese Republic
Political party	National Union
Spouse	Berta da Costa Ribeiro Arthur
Children	4
Profession	Air force officer
Awards	Order of Christ Order of Aviz Order of the Tower and Sword Order of the Bath Royal Victorian Chain
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Portuguese Air Force
Years of service	1911–1964
Rank	Marshal of the air force

Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes (Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɐ̃ˈsiʃku iˈʒinu kɾɐˈvɐjɾu ˈlɔpɨʃ]), GCTE, ComC, GCA, (12 April 1894 – 2 September 1964) was a Portuguese politician and military man. Decorated with the Order of the Bath and the Royal Victorian Chain, he was the 12th President of the Portuguese Republic between 1951 and 1958.

Early life and career

Born in Lisbon, he was a son of João Carlos Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese army general and 122nd Governor-General of Portuguese India (1929–1936) and his wife Júlia Clotilde Cristiano Salinas.

He concluded his Colégio Militar studies by 1911, having then entered the Escola Politécnica de Lisboa, in the same year he joined a cavalry regiment. He succeeded his father as the 123rd General Governor of Portuguese India (1936–1938).

Presidency

Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar chose Craveiro Lopes as the regime's presidential candidate in 1951 to succeed the late Óscar Carmona. Initially, he was to run in what would have been only the second contested election of the Estado Novo, when naval officer Manuel Quintão Meireles filed to run against him. However, Quintão Meireles withdrew before election day, and Craveiro Lopes was elected unopposed.

Under the Constitution, the president was vested with near-dictatorial powers. In practice, Carmona had mostly turned over the government to Salazar. However, Craveiro Lopes was not willing to give Salazar the free hand that Carmona had given him. Despite this, he did go as far as to dismiss Salazar; for all intents and purposes, the president's power to sack the prime minister was the only check on Salazar's power.

Nevertheless, Salazar picked the seemingly more pliant naval minister, Américo Tomás, as the regime's candidate in 1958. The Democratic Opposition then invited Craveiro Lopes to be their candidate, but he knew he stood no chance of winning and refused. The regime, however, as compensation promoted him to Marshal. He was involved in the failed military attempt to overthrow Salazar in 1961, led by the Defence Minister Júlio Botelho Moniz.

He died in Lisbon on 2 September 1964.

Family

He married Berta Ribeiro Artur (Lisbon, Pena, 15 October 1899 – Lisbon, Santa Maria de Belém, 5 July 1958), natural daughter of Engineer Sezinando Ribeiro Artur (Lisbon, 1875 – Lourenço Marques, 1918) by Maria Clara Pereira, by whom he had four children.

References

• Craveiro Lopes. presidencia.pt