Ban Ki-Moon the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, who assumed office in January 2007 and was re-elected in 2011, will be vacating the seat starting from January 2017 for Antonio Guterres.
Antonio Guterres is currently the 9th Secretary-General of the United Nations designate, here are some interesting facts you need to know about him:
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| Antonio Guterres |
1. Stellar education
When Antonio Guterres graduated from the prestigious Liceu de Camões secondary school in 1965, he won the "Prémio Nacional dos Liceus" as the best student in the country.
He then went on to study physics and electrical engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition to his native Portuguese, Guterres speaks English, Spanish, and French.
2. Academic career
Before delving into politics, Guterres had been an assistant professor who taught systems theory and telecommunications signals.
He is also a member of the Club of Madrid, an independent non-profit organization composed of democratic former presidents and prime ministers from 57 different countries, and which works to strengthen democratic institutions and leadership.
3. Ruling Portugal
His political career peaked in 1995, when the Socialist Party won the general election and Guterres became Prime Minister of Portugal.
He was re-elected in 1999, and from January to July 2000, he occupied the Presidency of the European Council.
4. High commissioner for refugees
Guterres once headed one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations in position as high commissioner, which at the end of his term had more than 10,000 staff working in 126 countries providing protection and assistance to over 60 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and stateless persons.
He served as the second-longest term as high commissioner in the organization's history, after Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, when he left office on 31 December 2015.
5. Family life
Guterres got married to LuÃsa Amélia Guimarães e Melo, they had two children together; Pedro Guimarães e Melo Guterres and Mariana Guimarães e Melo de Oliveira Guterres.
Sadly he lost his wife of cancer on January 28, 1998, at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He married his second wife Catarina Marques de Almeida Vaz Pinto in 2001.
His second wife is a former Portuguese State Secretary for culture and more recently Culture Secretary for the city council of Lisbon. He has a stepson from this marriage; Francisco Vaz Pinto da Costa Ramos.
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