The socialist politician, who lived to be 81, was one of the key figures in the Carnation Revolution in the 1970s. During his reign he opposed George W. Bush’s Iraq war.
Former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, who served from 1996 to 2006, died on Friday at the age of 81. This was announced by the presidential office in Lisbon. At the same time, a three-day state mourning from Saturday to Monday was ordered.
The socialist died in the Santa Cruz Hospital in Lisbon, where he had been treated for more than a week for breathing difficulties, reported Portuguese media. He also had heart problems.
Sampaio had been politically active as a young man. In the 1960s he was one of the student leaders who rebelled against the Salazar dictatorship. As a young lawyer he defended the politically persecuted. When the peaceful “Carnation Revolution” of left officers put an end to the authoritarian regime in 1974, Sampaio belonged to one of the first transitional governments.
As head of state, Sampaio was extremely popular during his two terms in office. Although he was sometimes described as “hesitant”, he took a clear position on important issues. Before the third Gulf War in 2003, which ended with the overthrow of Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, he sharply criticized the support of the conservative Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Barroso for the war course of the then US President George W. Bush. After Barroso became EU Commission President, he appointed the conservative Pedro Santana Lopes as his successor. Only a few months later he fired him for lack of success and set new elections. Sampaio was married to Maria José Ritta. The marriage had two children.