He was born on 13th January, 1938, in Barcelos. He graduated in Law from Universidade de Coimbra. Until 1969, alongside his duties at the Ministry of Corporations study centre, he worked in the area of education in positions such as assistant and Chair of various disciplines at the institution current known as ISCTE and the one now known as ISE, in Lisbon. In 1969, he became part of the government when he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Work and Welfare, becoming Secretary of State for Urbanism and Housing in 1972. He practised law from 1974 onwards and in 1981 became a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Portugal. In 1983, he was elected as a member of parliament, where he was a member of the Parliamentary Commission for European Affairs, of the Parliamentary Commission for the Treasury and Economic Planning and the Special Commission for Constitutional Review; president of the Commission for Health, Social Security and Family and president of CDS Parliamentary Group (3rd Legislature). In 1984, he was nominated member of Higher Council of Social Work. In 1989, he was elected vice-president of the Executive of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry. From 1980 onwards, he has been legal advisor to Fima/Lever/Iglo and became a member of the Board of Directors of Jerónimo Martins SGPS, S.A., occupying the position of Executive Director. In May 2001, he was elected non-Executive Director, a position he occupied until April 2004. From 2003 to 2005, he was president of the Portuguese Red Cross. Since 2006, he has been on the list of president-arbitrators of the Economic and Social Committee.

Last updated: 2009