Vasco de Almeida e Costa

135th Governor of Macau

In office
16 June 1981 – 14 May 1986

President

António Ramalho Eanes
Mário Soares

Preceded by

Nuno de Melo Egídio

Succeeded by

Joaquim Pinto Machado

Acting Prime Minister of Portugal

In office
23 June 1976 – 23 July 1976

President

Francisco da Costa Gomes
António Ramalho Eanes

Preceded by

José Pinheiro de Azevedo

Succeeded by

Mário Soares

Minister of the Internal Administration

In office
19 September 1975 – 22 July 1976

Prime Minister

José Pinheiro de Azevedo

Preceded by

Alfredo Cândido de Moura

Succeeded by

Manuel da Costa Brás

Personal details

Born

(1932-07-24)24 July 1932^{[citation needed]}
São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal^{[citation needed]}

Died

26 July 2010(2010-07-26) (aged 78)
Lisbon, Portugal

Political party

Independent

Spouse

Maria Claudiana da Costa de Faria Araújo

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

高斯達

Simplified Chinese

高斯达

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Gāo Sīdá
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	gou1 si1 daat6

Vasco Fernando Leote de Almeida e Costa, GCIH, GCL (24 July 1932^{[citation needed]} – 26 July 2010) was a Portuguese naval officer and politician.

Biography

He served as Minister of Internal Administration during José Pinheiro de Azevedo's government, between 19 September 1975 and 23 July 1976. He also had an important role during the Portuguese decolonization period. From 23 June 1976 he became interim Prime Minister after Pinheiro de Azevedo suffered a heart attack during his presidential campaign. He remained Prime Minister of Portugal as an interim official for the rest of Pinheiro de Azevedo's mandate, when he was substituted by the democratically elected Mário Soares. He was also the 134th Governor of Macau from 16 June 1981 to 15 May 1986. His reign in the colony was marked by considerable infrastructure development.^[1] Costa's decision to dissolve the local Legislative Assembly amid intensified power struggle with the local Macanese community was a major political crisis at that time.^[2] To balance the predominant Macanese legislature, he proposed electoral reform that empowered the Chinese business community and elites.^[3] During his tenure, Costa twice threatened to pull out of Macao unilaterally amid tense debate on the year of Handover.^[4]

He was the son of Américo de Almeida e Costa and wife Julieta da Conceição Leote and married in Viana do Castelo, Meadela, at the Chapel of São Vicente, on 11 January 1959 to Maria Claudiana da Costa de Faria Araújo (b. Viana do Castelo, Meadela, House of o Ameal, 17 May 1934), one of the fourteen children of a couple of Northern Portuguese Nobility, and by whom he had issue.

He died just after his 78th birthday and was cremated 1 week later.

References

^ Lo, Sonny (2009). "Casino Capitalism and Its Legitimacy Impact on the Politico-administrative State in Macau". Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. 38 (1): 23. doi:10.1177/186810260903800103. ISSN 1868-1026.
^ Yee, Herbert S.; Lo, Sonny S. H. (1991). "Macau in Transition: The Politics of Decolonization". Asian Survey. 31 (10): 908. doi:10.2307/2645063. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2645063.
^ Lo, Shiu-hing (1989). "Aspects of Political Development in Macao". China Quarterly. 120: 845. doi:10.1017/S030574100001849X. ISSN 0305-7410. S2CID 155080531.
^ Chang, Jaw-ling Joanne (1988). "Settlement of the Macao Issue: Distinctive Features of Beijing's Negotiating Behavior". Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. 20 (1): 261. ISSN 0008-7254.

Political offices
Preceded by José Pinheiro de Azevedo	Prime Minister of Portugal (Interim) 1976	Succeeded by Mário Soares
Preceded by Nuno de Melo Egídio	Governor of Macau 1981–1986	Succeeded by Joaquim Pinto Machado

Prime ministers of Portugal

Francisco Martins
Leonel de Sousa
Rui Barreto
Manuel de Mendonça
Fernão de Sousa
Pêro Barreto Rolim
Diogo Pereira
João Pedro Pereira
Simão de Mendonça
Tristão Vaz da Veiga
António de Sousa
Manuel Travassos
João de Almeida
António de Vilhena
Vasco Pereira
Domingos Monteiro
Leonel de Brito
Miguel da Gama
Inácio de Lima
Aires Gonçalves de Miranda
Francisco Pais
Jerónimo Pereira
Henrique da Costa
Roque de Melo Pereira
Gaspar Pinto da Rocha
Manuel de Miranda
Rui Mendes de Figueiredo
Nuno de Mendonça
Paulo de Portugal
Gonçalo Rodrigues de Sousa
João Caiado de Gamboa
Diogo de Vasconcelos de Meneses
André Pessoa
Pedro Martim Gaio
Miguel de Sousa Pimentel
João Serrão da Cunha
Martim da Cunha
Francisco Lopes Carrasco
Lopo Sarmento de Carvalho
António de Oliveira de Morais
Jerónimo de Macedo de Carvalho

Governors

17th century	Francisco Mascarenhas Filipe Lobo & Jerónimo da Silveira Manuel da Câmara de Noronha Domingos da Câmara de Noronha Sebastião Lobo da Silveira Luís de Carvalho e Sousa João Pereira João de Sousa Pereira Manuel Tavares Bocarro Manuel Borges da Silva Álvaro da Silva Manuel Borges da Silva António Barbosa Lobo António de Castro Sande Luís de Melo Sampaio Belchior do Amaral de Meneses António de Mesquita Pimentel André Coelho Vieira Francisco da Costa António da Silva e Melo Gil Vaz Lobo Freire Cosme Rodrigues de Carvalho e Sousa Pedro Vaz de Sequeira
18th century	Diogo de Melo Sampaio Pedro Vaz de Sequeira José da Gama Machado Diogo do Pinho Teixeira Francisco de Melo e Castro António de Sequeira de Noronha Francisco de Alarcão Sotto-Maior António de Albuquerque Coelho António da Silva Telo e Meneses Cristóvão de Severim Manuel António Carneiro de Alcáçova António Moniz Barreto António de Amaral Meneses João do Casal Cosme Damião Pinto Pereira Diogo Pereira António de Mendonça Corte-Real José Plácido de Matos Saraiva Diogo Fernandes Salema e Saldanha Rodrigo de Castro Francisco António Pereira Coutinho Diogo Pereira de Castro António de Mendonça Corte-Real José Plácido de Matos Saraiva Diogo Fernandes Salema e Saldanha Rodrigo de Castro Diogo Fernandes Salema e Saldanha Alexandre da Silva Pedrosa Guimarães José Vicente da Silveira Meneses António José da Costa Francisco de Castro Bernardo Aleixo de Lemos e Faria Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Corte-Real Lázaro da Silva Ferreira & Manuel António Costa Ferreira Vasco Luís Carneiro de Sousa e Faro José Manuel Pinto Cristóvão Pereira de Castro
19th century	José Manuel Pinto Caetano de Sousa Pereira Bernardo Aleixo de Lemos e Faria Lucas José de Alvarenga Bernardo Aleixo de Lemos e Faria Lucas José de Alvarenga José Osório de Castro de Albuquerque Paulino da Silva Barbosa Joaquim Mourão Garcez Palha João Cabral de Estefique Bernardo José de Sousa Soares Andrea Adrião Acácio da Silveira Pinto José Gregório Pegado João Maria Ferreira do Amaral Pedro Alexandrino da Cunha Francisco António Gonçalves Cardoso Isidoro Francisco Guimarães José Rodrigues Coelho do Amaral José Maria da Ponte e Horta António Sérgio de Sousa Januário Correia de Almeida José Maria Lobo de Ávila Carlos Eugénio Correia da Silva Joaquim José da Graça Tomás de Sousa Rosa Firmino José da Costa Francisco Teixeira da Silva Custódio Miguel de Borja José Maria de Sousa Horta e Costa Eduardo Augusto Rodrigues Galhardo
20th century	Arnaldo de Novais Guedes Rebelo Martinho Pinto de Queirós Montenegro Pedro de Azevedo Coutinho José Augusto Alves Roçadas Eduardo Augusto Marques Álvaro de Melo Machado Aníbal Augusto Sanches de Miranda José Carlos da Maia Manuel Ferreira da Rocha & Agostinho Vieira de Matos Artur Tamagnini de Sousa Barbosa Henrique Monteiro Correia da Silva Rodrigo José Rodrigues Manuel Firmino de Almeida Maia Magalhães Artur Tamagnini de Sousa Barbosa Joaquim Anselmo de Mata Oliveira António José Bernardes de Miranda Artur Tamagnini de Sousa Barbosa Gabriel Maurício Teixeira Albano Rodrigues de Oliveira Joaquim Marques Esparteiro Pedro Correia de Barros Jaime Silvério Marques António Lopes dos Santos José Manuel de Sousa e Faro Nobre de Carvalho José Eduardo Martinho Garcia Leandro Nuno Viriato Tavares de Melo Egídio Vasco de Almeida e Costa Joaquim Pinto Correia Carlos Montez Melancia Vasco Joaquim Rocha Vieira