Antonio Spinola Portuguese political and military leader Date of Birth: 11.04.1910 Country: Portugal

Biography of António de Spinola

António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spinola was a Portuguese politician and military leader who served as the Governor of Portuguese Guinea from 1968 to 1973 and as the President of the Portuguese Republic in 1974. He was born on April 11, 1910 in the small town of Estremoz in the Altu-Alentejo province, which is now part of the Évora district in central Portugal. Spinola came from a wealthy family, with his father, António Sebastião de Spinola, serving as the Inspector General of Finance and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance, António de Oliveira Salazar.

Spinola attended the Lisbon Military College in 1920 and graduated in 1928. He also studied at the Lisbon Polytechnic School during the same year. He served as an instructor in the 4th Cavalry Regiment for six years and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1933. In 1937, Spinola volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War as part of Francisco Franco's forces against the Spanish Republic. He later joined the National Republican Guard as an adjutant to the commander of the guard, General Monteyro de Barros, who was also his father-in-law.

Spinola's military career continued to progress, and in 1941, he was sent as part of a Portuguese mission to Germany to study tank warfare and the structure of the German army. He served as an observer with the German army on the Eastern Front during World War II, witnessing the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Spinola was promoted to the rank of captain in 1943 and later served in the military command on the Azores Islands. In 1947, he traveled to Spain to study the experience of the Spanish Civil Guard.

From 1955 to 1964, Spinola was a member of the National Council of Steel. He was promoted to the rank of major in 1956 and appointed as the commander of the Lisbon National Republican Guard in 1959. It was during this time that an incident occurred where Spinola, on horseback, chased demonstrators and rode into a café. In 1961, he was appointed as the deputy commander and later the commander of the 2nd Regiment. In the same year, Spinola volunteered to serve in Angola during the war against the MPLA rebels. He organized the Cavalry Group-345 and underwent special operational training in Luanda. Spinola's first combat operation was in the Bessa-Monteiro area, and he was later deployed to the San Salvador province on the border with Congo.

In 1963, Spinola was recalled from Angola and appointed to the Directorate of Cavalry Armaments in Lisbon. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1966 and became the deputy commander of the National Republican Guard in 1967. In May 1968, Spinola was appointed as the governor and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces in Portuguese Guinea, where a guerrilla war for independence was taking place. He introduced modern methods of warfare but understood that the 30,000 Portuguese settlers in the colony could not indefinitely resist the 600,000 Africans. Spinola began to focus on improving the living conditions of the local population, developing housing, healthcare, and education. Propaganda campaigns were also actively carried out.

On January 20, 1973, Amílcar Cabral, the leader of the PAIGC, a guerrilla organization fighting for independence, was assassinated. Spinola's policy was often referred to as the "policy of smiles and blood." In July 1969, he initiated the first phase of Operation "For a Better Guinea" and ordered the release of 92 Africans who were previously associated with the PAIGC from the Tarrafal concentration camp. Spinola also sought to engage the population in political life by convening the People's Congress in 1970. He aimed to divide the African majority by attracting some of them to his side. In the same year, Spinola secretly contacted the PAIGC with the goal of achieving Guinea's self-determination within a Portuguese federation.

On April 25, 1974, Spinola assumed supreme power in Portugal after the Carnation Revolution, a military coup that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime. However, his presidency did not lead to a resolution of the colonial problem. He resigned on September 30, 1974, and left the political arena, believing that the country was heading towards a crisis and chaos. However, his popularity remained, and he continued to have a significant following within the military.

In spring 1975, Spinola attempted a coup to prevent Portugal from moving towards socialism. However, the coup failed, and he was removed from the political scene. Spinola fled to Spain but was denied political asylum. After spending over 30 hours in a plane, he was eventually granted entry into Brazil by General Ernesto Geisel. Spinola settled in Madrid, Spain, and later traveled to Argentina, but neither country granted him political asylum. In March 1975, he finally arrived in Brazil.

António de Spinola remained a controversial figure in Portuguese history, with some seeing him as a champion of democracy and others as a defender of colonial rule. He died on August 13, 1996, in Lisbon, Portugal.