Freitas do Amaral, Diogo [key], 1941–2020, Portuguese political leader. A law professor at the Univ. of Lisbon, he was a founder (1974) and leader (1974–82, 1988–91) of the conservative Christian Democratic party and one of the leading founders of democracy in Portugal following the overthrow of the dictatorship in 1974. Freitas do Amaral was a member of the Portuguese parliament (1975–83, 1992–93) and served as deputy prime minister (1980–83), minister of foreign affairs (1980–81), minister of defense (1981–83), and interim prime minister (Dec. 1980–Jan., 1981) in the Democratic Alliance coalition government. He also was president of the European Union of Christian Democrats (1982–83), and narrowly lost the 1986 presidential election to Socialist Mário Soares. He again was minister of foreign affairs in 2005–6, under Prime Minister José Sócrates.
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