Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

Born in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the eldest son of Baltasar Rebelo de Sousa (1921–2001) and his wife Maria das Neves Fernandes Duarte (1921–2003).

He has claimed that his mother had Jewish ancestry.

He is named after his godfather, Marcello Caetano, the last prime minister of the Estado Novo regime.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa became a professor and publicist specialized in constitutional law and administrative law, earning his doctorate at the University of Lisbon, where he taught law.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa started his career during the Estado Novo as a lawyer, and later as a journalist.

He joined the Popular Democratic Party, becoming a Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic.

Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic.

During that time, he helped draft Portugal's constitution in 1976.

Later he rose to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs under Prime Minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão.

Together with him he was a co-founder, Director and Administrator of the Expresso newspaper, owned by Pinto Balsemão.

In other local elections, he also became the President of the Municipal Assembly of Cascais (1979–1982) and the President of the Municipal Assembly of Celorico de Basto (1997–2009).

He was also a founder of Sedes. He worked with another newspaper, Semanário, between 1983 and 1987.

He started as a political analyst and pundit on the radio broadcaster TSF with his Exams, in which he gave marks (0 to 20) to the main political players.

In 1989 he ran for President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon (Mayor of Lisbon) but lost to Jorge Sampaio, though he did win a seat as City Councilor (Vereador).

In that campaign he took a plunge into the waters of the Tagus River to prove they were not polluted despite claims to the contrary.

He created a center-right coalition, the Democratic Alliance, with the People's Party in 1998.

He became, however, the Vice-President of the European People's Party–European Democrats.

The coalition did not please large parts of its own party, due to the role the People's Party leader, Paulo Portas, had in undermining Aníbal Cavaco Silva's government while director of the weekly O Independente.

He had a weekly program of political analysis every Sunday on public TV station RTP after previously having a similar program on the private TV station TVI.

President Jorge Sampaio dissolved the Assembly of the Republic, a move that also meant dismissing the Government at a time when it had a stable coalition majority, and calling for anticipated elections, which led to the defeat of Santana Lopes and the election of the Socialists under José Sócrates.

Rebelo de Sousa was the leader of the Social Democratic Party from 31 de March 1996 to 1 May 1999.

He was made a Member of the Council of State, by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, and was sworn in on 6 April 2006.

He was a leading figure on the anti-abortion side of the 2007 abortion referendum.

He even founded a website titled "Assim Não" (Not like this), which was divulged with a famous introductory video.

It became so well known that it was parodied in Saturday Night Live-fashion by famous humour group Gato Fedorento.

In 2010, he left RTP and returned to TVI to do the same program that he had before.

During his election campaign, he promised to repair political divisions and the hardship of Portugal's 2011–14 bailout.

Unlike his predecessor, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, he had never previously held a top state position.

He is the 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016.

He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended his party membership for the duration of his presidency.

Rebelo de Sousa has previously served as a government minister, parliamentarian in the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic, legal scholar, journalist, political analyst, law professor, and pundit.

On 24 January 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was elected as President of Portugal in the first round of voting.

He stood as an independent, appealing for moderation and cross-party consensus.

In 2019, he joined President Emmanuel Macron for the traditional Bastille Day military parade in Paris, which honoured European military cooperation and the European Intervention Initiative that year.

In March 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa asked parliament to authorize a state of emergency to contain the COVID-19 pandemic; this marked the first time the country declared a state of emergency nationwide in 46 years of democratic history.

In December 2020, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced his intention to run for office again in the 2021 Portuguese presidential election.

Marcelo was re-elected president in January 2021, with 60.7% of the votes, the third highest vote margin ever in presidential elections in Portugal since the Carnation Revolution.

He was also the first candidate ever to win the vote in all municipalities, ranging from 51.3% in the Beja District to 72.16% in Madeira.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, as President of Portugal, has visited the Vatican, Spain, Mozambique, Morocco, Brazil, Switzerland, Cuba, United Kingdom, Greece, United States of America and Angola.

The first visit was to the Vatican City to meet the Pope Francis and the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.