Background
Born on May 14, 1911, at Santarem, 50 miles north of Lisbon.
Born on May 14, 1911, at Santarem, 50 miles north of Lisbon.
Educated at Lisbon and graduated in law from the University of Lisbon.
After legal training in Lisbon he went to Angola as assistant to the Attorney General at Nova Lisboa. Next he moved to Mozambique on promotion to judge at the municipal court of Macequece, 150 miles west of Beira. In 1945 he was sent to Portugal’s south-east Asian island of Timor as judge and then returned to Angola as assistant to the Attorney-General at the court of appeal in Luanda.
His interest in juvenile delinquency led to his appointment in 1956 as chairman of the Portuguese delegation to the international conference on the question organised at Kampala by the Committee for Technical Cooperation in Africa. He returned to Mozambique as judge at the Appeal Court in Lourenco Marques and was promoted President of the Appeal Court. On his recall to Lisbon as a member of the Overseas Council he was made Senior Inspector of Justice for the overseas provinces and made visits to Angola, Mozambique and Macao. He was promoted to the administration in Angola after heading various commissions of enquiry.