Francisco Salgado Zenha GCL (2 May 1923,

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

– 1 November 1993,

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 ...

) was a Portuguese left-wing politician and lawyer.

Career

As a student at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

, he was elected president of the Academic Association of Coimbra, being dismissed some months after because he refused to participate in a demonstration of support to the Estado Novo regime. Some time after, in 1945, he became one of the founders of the youth wing of the

Movement of Democratic Unity The Movement of Democratic Unity () was a quasi-legal platform of Portuguese democratic organizations that opposed the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar and was founded in October 1945. The defeat of the Fascist regimes in World ...

(Portuguese: ''Movimento de Unidade Democrática – Juvenil'' or "MUD-J"), a movement that congregated almost all the opposition movements to the Portuguese Fascist regime. His "subversive" actions lead him to prison for several times. Later, he supported the presidential candidacy of

Norton de Matos Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan * Norton Parish, New Brunswick ** Norton, New Brunswick, ...

, and it was at this time that he met

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

. Some years after he supported another democratic candidate to the manipulated elections, Humberto Delgado. After that he joined several Socialist movements, and in 1973, he was among the founders 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 th ...

. As an anti-fascist he became notable for defending in court many people accused of anti-fascist and anti-colonialist activities. After the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

, he was Minister of Justice in the first, second, third and fourth provisional governments and

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the fifth. He was a member of the commission that made the review of the judiciary composition with the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

that, for example, legalized divorce in Portugal. Between 1974 and 1982, he was member of the direction of the Socialist Party. He was also a member of its Parliamentary Group for

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. From 1977 to 1983 he was a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, representing Portugal. In 1980, he had a falling out with his old friend Mário Soares because of the Party's support to

Ramalho Eanes Ramalho is a Portuguese surname. Ramalho may refer to: People *João Ramalho (1493–1580), Portuguese explorer *Ramalho Ortigão (1836–1915), Portuguese writer *Rosa Ramalho (1888–1977), Portuguese ceramist *José Ramalho (rower) (1901–1967) ...

in the presidential election. In 1986, he was a presidential candidate supported by the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

and the Democratic Renovator Party, but even supported by these two parties he failed to reach the second round and thereafter virtually left the Portuguese political scene. He died on 1 November 1993. The cause of his death was

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenha, Francisco Salgado 1923 births 1993 deaths People from Braga Portuguese anti-fascists Candidates for President of Portugal Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians Finance ministers of Portugal Government ministers of Portugal Justice ministers of Portugal 20th-century Portuguese lawyers University of Coimbra alumni