Background
António Oscar de Fragoso Carmona was born on November 24, 1869 in Lisbon.
António Oscar de Fragoso Carmona was born on November 24, 1869 in Lisbon.
He graduated from the Military College in Lisbon in 1888 and at once entered the army.
His military training and experience earned him a general's insignia in 1922. In 1923 he was appointed minister of war. Together with General da Costa, Carmona led the revolt of 1926, after which he was appointed minister of foreign affairs. Six weeks later on July 9 a coup d'étatd'etat removed da Costa and placed Carmona in supreme power. He was president of the Council of Ministers; then under a revised constitution he was officially elected to the presidency in 1928 and continued to rule as a constitutional dictator. The change to a corporative state in 1933 marked the transfer of authority to Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. Carmona was re-elected to the presidency for seven-year terms in 1935, 1942, and 1949. He died in Lisbon on April 18, 1951.
Carmona was a republican and a freemason, and was a quick adherent to the proclamation of the Portuguese First Republic on 5 October 1910. He was, however, never a sympathizer of the democratic form of government and – as he would later confess in an interview to António Ferro – he only voted for the first time at the National Plebiscite of 1933. During the First Republic, he briefly served as War Minister in the government of António Ginestal Machado in 1923. Unlike the popular marshal Gomes da Costa, Carmona had not seen action in World War I.
National Union
In January 1914, Carmona married Maria do Carmo Ferreira da Silva, daughter of Germano da Silva and wife Engrácia de Jesus. With this marriage he legitimized their three children.
He is the grand-uncle of the former Mayor of Lisbon Carmona Rodrigues. He is also the uncle of Brazilian President Augusto Tasso Fragoso.