Miguel dos Anjos da Cunha Lisboa Trovoada (born December 27, 1936) was the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

from 1975 to 1979 and second president of São Tomé and Príncipe 1991 to 2001. On 16 July 2014, he was appointed the Special Representative of the

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...

and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). Prior to this, he was the executive secretary of the Gulf of Guinea Commission.

Background

Born in the city of

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Ál ...

, Trovoada attended secondary school in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

before studying law at 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, t ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. In 1960 he cofounded, with former classmate Manuel Pinto da Costa, the Committee for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (CLSTP) - which was renamed the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe in 1972. Operating out of its headquarters in

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

, Trovoada served as the movement's foreign affairs director from 1961 to 1975 and was instrumental in gaining Organization of African Unity (OAU) recognition for the MLSTP in 1972. After the fall of the Estado Novo regime in Portugal due to the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lis ...

, Trovoada served as the São Tomé and Príncipe first Prime Minister (12 July 1975 - March 1979). However, relations between the President and Prime Minister soon deteriorated, culminating in 1979 when President da Costa abolished the post of Prime Minister. Several months later, Trovoada was charged with plotting against the government. After being arrested and detained for 21 months, Trovoada went into exile in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. In May 1990, following the adoption of a democratic constitution, he returned to his country and campaigned for president. In 1991, Trovoada was elected President in the country's first multiparty presidential election; he was re-elected in 1996. When he first ran for President, he was not a member of any political party, but by the end of his first term he had formed a new

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

- Independent Democratic Action (ADI). His government was briefly overthrown in a '' coup d'etat'' from 15 August 1995 to 21 August 1995. President Trovoada's term ended on 3 September 2001 when Fradique de Menezes was sworn in as the new

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state (polity), state#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international p ...

. Trovoada took office as executive secretary of the Gulf of Guinea Commission on 21 January 2009."São Tomé president congratulates secretary of Gulf of Guinea Commission"
AngolaPress, 22 January 2009. Miguel Trovoada's son Patrice Trovoada is also a politician and served as Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trovoada, Miguel Trovoada, Miguel Living people Heads of state of São Tomé and Príncipe Foreign Ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party politicians Independent Democratic Action politicians People from São Tomé 20th-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians 21st-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians