Jaime José de Matos da Gama, GCC, GCIH, GCL (born 8 June 1947) is a Portuguese former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal from 1983 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2002, and he was President of the Assembly of the Republic from 2005 to 2011. Since leaving politics, he has worked as Senior Strategic Counsel at the

Albright Stonebridge Group Dentons Global Advisors ASG, formerly Albright Stonebridge Group, is a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C., United States. It was created in 2009 through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group, found ...

, a global strategy and business advisory firm, and as Chairman of the bank Novo Banco dos Açores.

Background

Born at Senhora da Rosa, Fajã de Baixo,

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality ('' concelho'') and economic capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67, ...

, São Miguel,

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

in 1947, he is a son of Jaime da Rosa Ferreira da Gama (Matriz, Horta, Faial, Azores, January 1914 –

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, 29 July 2004) and wife Lucília Vaz do Rego de Matos (São Sebastião,

, São Miguel, Azores, 12 September 1916 – Hospital Militar, Estrela,

, 21 September 1987).

Political life

He graduated as a Licentiate in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

from the Faculty of Letters of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

. He was involved in the opposition to the fascist ''Estado Novo'' (New State) regime, since his youth, and was first arrested, aged only 18, due to an article published in the local press. He was a member of the socialist CEUD in the campaign for the 1969 legislative elections, won by the National Union (the regime party), due to massive fraud. He was a journalist of the opposition newspaper ''República'', in the last years of the fascist regime. He was a founder of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

, in the German exile of Bad-Munstereifel. He was elected for his party as a

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

to the Assembly of the Republic for the

from 1975 and for

from 1983. In the 1st Constitutional Government, he was Minister of Internal Affairs (1976–1978), and

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

in the 9th Constitutional Government, from 1983 to 1985. He returned to the same ministry, in

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Soci ...

' governments, from 1995 to 2002, and was also Minister of State and Minister of National Defence, in 1999, and Minister of State from 1999 to 2002. He was

President of the United Nations Security Council The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations Security Council. It rotates among the 15 member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the President of t ...

during June 1998. He was the chairman of the Presidency of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

from 1 January 2002 until 6 April 2002, when he lost his post as Foreign Minister when the new government of

José Manuel Durão Barroso José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

took office in Portugal. From 2005 to 2011, he was President of the Assembly of the Republic.

Foreign policy

As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jaime Gama signed the Accession Treaty of Portugal to the European Communities, the Friendship, Cooperation and Consultation Treaty with Brazil, and initiated and concluded negotiations with China on the handover of Macau. He negotiated and signed the New York Agreements between the UN, Indonesia, and Portugal that led to the self-determination and independence of

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

. On several occasions, he managed crisis and peace and reconciliation efforts in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Jaime Gama was the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2002 when Angola reached peace after a 27-year civil war. Jaime Gama proposed, negotiated and launched the

Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international organization and poli ...

(CPLP). As Foreign Minister he proposed and organized, with Algeria and Egypt, the first Africa-EU Summit, paving the way for the Africa-EU Partnership. As Speaker of the Parliament he negotiated and implemented the Parliamentary Forum of the Ibero-American Community of Nations.

Life after politics

Jaime Gama is Senior Strategic Counsel at the

, a global strategy and business advisory firm led by former U.S. Secretary of State in the Clinton administration Madeleine Albright and former Commerce Secretary and Kellogg Company CEO Carlos Gutierrez. Presently, he is a member of the General Council of the University of Lisbon, of the Supervisory Board and of the Strategy Board of the Political Studies Institute, both of the Lisbon Catholic University, of the European Council on Foreign Relations and of the Aspen Ministers Forum. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank Novo Banco dos Açores, Chairman of the Supervisory Board for the electronic newspaper “Observador" and a member of the Board of Directors of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

Honours

PRT_Order_of_Prince_Henry_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand-Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

(19 April 1986) * PRT_Order_of_Christ_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ, Portugal (2 June 1987) * GER_Bundesverdienstkreuz_5_GrVK_Stern

Grand-Cross with Star of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

(9 May 1989) * Legion_Honneur_Commandeur_ribbon

Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(28 January 1991) * Ordre_de_l%27Ouissam_Alaouite_GC_ribbon_(Maroc)

Grand-Cross of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

(6 February 1992) *

Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay - ribbon bar

Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (12 August 1997) * POL Order Zaslugi RP kl2 BAR

Commander's Cross with Star of the

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

(22 September 1997) * Order_of_Civil_Merit_(Spain)_GC

Grand-Cross of the

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and forei ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

(17 June 1998) * Legion_Honneur_GO_ribbon

Grand Officer of the

, France (29 November 1999) * GRE_Order_of_Honour_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand-Cross of the Order of Honour,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

(17 March 2000) * Grand_Officer_Ordre_de_Leopold

Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold I,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

(9 October 2000) * CHL_Order_of_Merit_of_Chile_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand-Cross of the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

(30 September 2001) * ITA_OMRI_2001_GC_BAR

Grand-Cross of the

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(1 April 2002) * EST_Order_of_the_White_Star_-_1st_Class_BAR

First Class of the

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Balti ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

(29 March 2003) * Order_of_the_Star_of_Jordan_ribbon_bar

Grand-Cross of the

Order of the Star of Jordan The Order of the Star of Jordan (Wisam al-Kawkab al-Urduni) or The Order of Hussein ibn Ali (Wisam al-Hussein ibn Ali) is an award and military decoration of the sovereign state of Jordan and is awarded for military or civil merit. It was founde ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

(28 May 2009) * Den_kongelige_norske_fortjenstorden_storkors_stripe

Grand-Cross of

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livi ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

(25 September 2009) *

Grand-Cross of Order of St. Gregory the Great,

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

(3 September 2010) * PRT_Order_of_Liberty_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand-Cross of the

Order of Liberty The Order of Liberty, or the Order of Freedom ( pt, Ordem da Liberdade), is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human di ...

, Portugal (4 October 2014)

Family

He married in

on 18 September 1971 to Alda Taborda and their son, João Taborda da Gama, born in 1977, is a Tax Law Professor of the

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

of the

Catholic University of Portugal The Catholic University of Portugal (Portuguese: ''Universidade Católica Portuguesa'', pronounced nivɨɾsiˈðad(ɨ) kɐˈtɔlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ, also referred to as Católica or UCP for short, is a concordat university (non-state-run univers ...

. They have five grandchildren.

References

* ''Os Presidentes do Parlamento'' (''Presidents of the Portuguese Parliament''), Assembly of the Republic , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gama, Jaime 1947 births Living people People from Ponta Delgada Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Portuguese anti-fascists Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians Foreign ministers of Portugal Presidents of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Grand Crosses of the Order of Liberty Commanders with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Gregory the Great Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class Grand Crosses of the Order of Honour (Greece) Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit Recipients of the Order of Timor-Leste Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany