Profile
He graduated in Law from the University of Coimbra (1961). He served as Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and Tourism in the I Provisional Government (1974), Minister of Economy in the II and III Provisional Governments (1974–1975), and Minister of Transport and Communications in the I Constitutional Government (1976–1978). He was Vice-Governor of the Bank of Portugal (1975–1985) and a Member of its Advisory Board (2014–2017) and currently is President of its Ethics Committee. Chaired the Board of Directors of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (1989–1996 and 2017–2021), founding Culturgest – CGD Foundation (1993). He was a Director at Banco Português do Atlântico (1969–1973), Chairman of the Management Board of Banco Espírito Santo e Comercial de Lisboa (1985), and President of the European Group of Savings Banks (1991–1994).
He was founder and Chairman of the Coordinating Council of SEDES – Association for Economic and Social Development (1970–1972 and 1980–1983) and has been its Honorary President since 2024. He founded the Institute for Development Studies (1979) and the Forum of Portuguese Business Leaders (1979) and presided over the Luso-British Chamber of Commerce (1984–1986). He served as a Board Member (1996–2002) and President (2002–2012) of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and has been its Senior Advisor since 2022. He coordinated the European Foundation Centre (2008–2011) and was a member of the jury for the Pessoa Prize (2017–2022). He was Commissioner-General for Europalia 91 – Portugal (1989–1995), and Vice-President (1989–1991) and President of the Board of Founders of the Serralves Foundation (2018–2023).
He has established and maintained institutional relations with the Universities of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Nova University Lisbon, and the Catholic University of Portugal since 1998. Among other honours, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Lisbon (2013) and the Vasco Graça Moura Prize for Cultural Citizenship (2021). He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Lisbon (2011) and has been decorated with the Grã-Cruz da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique (1992), the Ordem Militar de Cristo (1996), and the Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada (2022), in addition to several other foreign honorary distinctions.
