Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira, GCTE GCC GCIH

ComA A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

(; 16 August 1939 – 22 January 2025) was a

Portuguese Army The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...

officer who was the last

Governor of Macau The governor of Macau (; ) was a Portugal, Portuguese colonial official who headed the Portuguese Empire, colony of Portuguese Macau, Macau, before 1623 called captain-major (). The post was replaced on 20 December 1999 upon the handover of M ...

Background

Vieira was born on 16 August 1939. He was the son of João da Silva Vieira and Maria Vieira Rocha, as well as the paternal grandson of André de Sousa Vieira and his wife, Teresa de Jesus da Silva. Vieira married in Alcântara,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal, on 20 November 1976, Maria Leonor de Andrada Soares de Albergaria, born in Lisbon on 18 April 1949, Licentiate in Roman

Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

and the daughter of João José Cabral Soares de Albergaria, 3rd Viscount (formerly Baron) of Torre de Moncorvo (with a

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of ''de Morais'' and ''Sarmento'') and Representative of the Title of Viscount de Morais Sarmento, a mechanical engineer, and wife Maria Júlia Pellen de Campos de Andrada, of the Family of the former Counters of the Counts of the Realm and House, and had three sons. Vieira died on 22 January 2025, at the age of 85.

Degrees

Vieira was a Portuguese Administrator and a

General Officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Military Engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

of the Portuguese Army with the Course of the Army School and Licentiate in civil engineering by the Instituto Superior Técnico (Superior Technical Institute) of the

, and has the General and Complementary Course of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

of the Army, the Superior Course of Command and Direction of the Portuguese Armed Forces and the Course of National Defense.

Career

Among many other things Vieira was a civil servant in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

prior to his governorship, being the Chief of

of the Independent Territorial Command of Macau from 1973 to 1974 and Deputy Secretary for

Public Works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

and Communications of the Government of Macau from 1974 to 1975. He then became Director of the Arm of Engineering of the Army from 1975 to 1976, Chief of

of the Army and by inherency a Member of the Conselho da Revolução (Revolutionary Council) from 1976 to 1978 being the Captain of April who lasted more in Portuguese politics, with an extensive curriculum of public service. He was also made Honorary Director of the Arm of Engineering of the Portuguese Army. After that he was the National Military Representative at the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. SHAPE is situated in the villag ...

of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

in Belgium from 1978 to 1981, and then a professor and subdirector at the Instituto de Altos Estudos Militares (Institute of Military High Studies) between 1983 and 1984 and from 1984 to 1986 respectively. He served as the Minister of the Republic to the

Autonomous Region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or territory, internal territory of a sovereign state that has ...

of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

from 1986 to 1992. Finally, he served as the 138th

from 24 April 1992 to 19 December 1999 and was the last Portuguese Governor of Macau prior to the 1999 handover of the colony back to China. Following the handover, Vieira was a senior member of the Portuguese Golf Association (Associação Portuguesa de Golfe). Before the handover he also founded and was an active element at the Jorge Álvares Foundation, named after the first Portuguese said to have arrived in China. Another former Governor of Macau, General António Lopes dos Santos, served as president of the Jorge Álvares Foundation from 2000 until his death in 2009.

Decorations

Vieira was granted numerous decorations, both national and foreign, among those: * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword * : Grand Collar of the Order of Infante D. Henrique * : Grand Cross of the Order of Christ * : Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique * : Commander of the

Order of Aviz The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...

* Medals of Distinguished Services of Gold and Silver * Medals of Military Merit of 1st Class and 3rd Class * Medals of Exemplary Behaviour of Gold and Silver * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Sacred Treasure * : Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco * : Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II * : Commander of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

* : Commander of the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vieira, Vasco Joaquim Rocha 1939 births 2025 deaths Instituto Superior Técnico alumni Governors of Macau Grand Officers of the Order of Leopold II Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Commanders of the Order of Aviz Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Technical University of Lisbon alumni People from Lagoa, Algarve Commanders of the Legion of Merit

Background

Degrees

Career

Decorations

Further reading

References