As a Portuguese-American, I was excited to see a fellow Portuguese, Antonio Guterres, become the newest Secretary General of the United Nations. Many politicians argued that the role of secretary general should belong to a woman, or to someone from eastern Europe. However, Guterres has already mentioned he is selecting a woman as deputy secretary-general, having said that "gender parity" is crucial at the United Nations. So, who is this mystery man “Antonio Guterres?”
The Basics:
- Antonio was born on April 30, 1949 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- He went to Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal.
- In 1972, Guterres married child psychiatrist Luísa Amélia Guimarães e Melo, and had two children. However, his wife died of cancer in 1998.
- In 2001, he married his second wife Catarina Marques de Almeida Vaz Pinto who was a former Portuguese State Secretary for Culture, and the Culture Secretary for the City Council of Lisbon.
- Antonio speaks 4 languages: Portuguese, French, English, and Spanish.
Antonio's Resume:
1971-1975 -Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico.
1976-1983 and 1985-1995 - Member of Portugal's parliament.
1981-1983 - Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and president of its Commission for Demography, Migrations and Refugees.
1991 - Co-founds the Portuguese Refugee Council.
1992 - Antonio is elected secretary-general of the Socialist Party of Portugal.
1995-2002 - Prime minister of Portugal.
1999-2005 - President of the Socialist International.
2000 - President of the European Council.
2005-2015 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
October 13, 2016 - The UN General Assembly formally approves Guterres as the new secretary-general, succeeding Ban Ki-moon. His five-year term begins January 1, 2017.
