António Barreto was born in Porto on 30th October, 1942. He lived in Vila Real until he finished secondary school, after which he attended Coimbra Law Faculty. He lived in Switzerland as a political exile from 1963 to 1974, graduating in Sociology in 1968. He worked at the University of Geneva and the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development before returning to Portugal in 1974. He worked as a professor at the Social and Human Sciences and Law Faculty at Lisbon's Universidade Nova, as a researcher at Universidade Católica and the Social Sciences Institute of Universidade de Lisboa until 2008. He gained his Doctorate in Sociology in 1985 from the University of Geneva. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly and the Portuguese Parliament, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Minister for Trade and Tourism and Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. He was also the winner of the Montaigne Prize of 2004. He has been a member of the Academia das Ciências since 2008, Chairman of the Board of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation since 2009 and a columnist for the Público newspaper since 1991. His published work includes, Anatomia de uma Revolução, Tempo de Mudança, Sem Emenda, Tempo de Incerteza, A Situação Social em Portugal, 1960-1999 and Anos Difíceis.