Lisbon: Former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio passed away on Friday at his home in Lisbon. He was aged 81. Sampaio was president of Portugal between 1996 and 2006.
The government declared three days of national mourning to commemorate Sampaio, starting on Saturday. ‘Jorge Sampaio left us today, leaving us with a heritage of not only liberty but also equality’, said Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
‘We bow down before the memory of a man who always fought for freedom, for democracy, and whose moral uprightness brought prestige to our country’s political life,’ said Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
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Sampaio began his political career while studying law at Lisbon University in the late 1950s. He was appointed as the secretary of state for foreign cooperation, in 1975. he was elected as the mayor of the Lisbon and later as the president of the country 1996 and in 2001.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Sampaio as his special envoy on tuberculosis in 2006. The following year, Annan’s successor Ban Ki-moon made him the U.N. High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.
Sampaio is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son.
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