Profile

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the current President of the Portuguese Republic, is a jurist, university professor, and politician. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon with a degree in Law in 1971 and earned a Ph.D. in Legal and Political Sciences from the same institution in 1984 to which he devoted his academic career. At this institution, he held several leadership positions, including President of the Board of Directors (1985–1989) and of the Pedagogical Council (2006–2010). He was also a visiting professor at both the Catholic University of Portugal and the NOVA University of Lisbon. He chaired the founding committee of the Faculty of Law at the University of Porto, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2005. His major publications include Direito Constitucional (1979), Ciência Política: Conteúdos e Métodos (1989) and A Revolução e o Nascimento do PPD (2000).

An active member of the Social Democratic Party from 1975 to 2015, he served as its president from 1996 to 1999. He was also a member of the Constituent Assembly from 1975 to 1976, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs from 1982 to 1983, and Vice-President of the European People’s Party from 1997 to 1999. He also served on the Council of State (2006–2016) and presided over the Fundação da Casa de Bragança (2012–2016).

He was elected President of the Republic in 2016, a position he continues to hold. He was made Commander of the Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada in 1994 and was awarded the Grã-Cruz da Ordem do Infante D. Henrique in 2005 and the Grande Colar da Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, Valor, Lealdade e Mérito in 2021. He has also received numerous foreign honors, including the Grã-Cruz da Ordem Nacional da Legião de Honra (France), the Grande Colar da Ordem de Isabel a Católica e o Grande Colar da Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazil).