Profession: UN Secretary-General and Prime Minister of Portugal
Biography: António Guterres began his professional life as an academic before joining the Socialist Party in 1972 and devoting himself to politics.
Guterres became leader of the Portuguese Socialist Party in 1992 and led them to victory in the 1995 national election, after which Guterres was appointed Prime Minister.
Guterres was a popular Prime Minister during his first term, overseeing Expo 98 in Lisbon and the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Vasco da Gama.
Guterres' second term as Prime Minister was not as successful, his government's reputation was damaged by the Hintze Ribeiro Bridge disaster in 2001. Guterres resigned in 2002.
In 2005 he was elected UN High Commissioner for Refugees and served till 2015, dealing with the refugees crisis that resulted from the Syrian civil war. In 2017 he was elected UN Secretary General.
Born: April 30, 1949
Birthplace: Lisbon, Portugal
Age: 75 years old
Generation: Baby Boomer
Chinese Zodiac: Ox
Star Sign: Taurus
Historical Events
- 2017-01-01 Portuguese politician and diplomat António Guterres becomes United Nations Secretary General, replacing South Korean Ban Ki-Moon
- 2017-09-13 UN Secretary-General António Guterres says Rohingya refugee crisis now "catastrophic" as 370,000 confirmed to have fled Myanmar
- 2018-09-10 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calls for urgent climate change conference saying "climate change moving faster than we are"
- 2020-03-23 Immediate global ceasefire to fight COVID-19 called for by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
- 2020-12-12 UN Chief Antonio Guterres urges world's leaders to declare "climate emergency" to avoid catastrophic global warning on 5th anniversary of Paris Climate Accord
- 2022-04-28 Russian missiles strike Ukrainian city of Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary-General António Guterres
- 2022-08-18 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary General António Guterres warn of "another Chernobyl" due to fighting by Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at a summit in Lviv
- 2022-09-10 U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres visits and calls for global support for flood-ravaged Pakistan where 33 million people are displaced and damage is estimated at $30 billion
- 2023-02-18 Global financial system is "dysfunctional and unfair" and is "failing developing countries" according to UN Secretary General António Guterres at opening of African Union leaders' summit in Ethiopia
- 2023-03-07 Gender equality now "300 years away” and "vanishing before our eyes" for reasons including maternal mortality and early marriage, according to UN Secretary General António Guterres in speech for International Woman's Day
Biographies and Sources
- Gender equality will take 300 years to achieve, UN chief warns - CNN
- U.N. chief urges support for flood-hit Pakistan - Reuters
- Ukraine war: Damage to nuclear plant would be suicide - UN chief By Matt Murphy - BBC News
- UN Secretary-General's Press Conference at the African Union Summit - United Nations
Dag Hammarskjöld
Ralph Bunche
Talleyrand
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
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