{{Short description|São Toméan aerospace engineer and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Nuno Xavier | image = File:Nuno Xavier.png | office = President of the Constituent Assembly | term_start = 1975 | term_end = 1975 | predecessor = ''Position established'' | successor = Guilherme do Sacramento Neto | birth_date = {{birth date|1940|9|13|df=y}} | birth_place = Trindade, São Tomé, Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe | death_date = {{death date and age|1976|6||1940|9|13|df=y}} | death_place = Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal | party = MLSTP | education = | profession = {{hlist|Aerospace engineer | politician}} }} '''Nuno Xavier Daniel Dias''' (13 September 1940 – June 1976) was a São Toméan aerospace engineer and politician who served as the first President of the Constituent Assembly after the country's independence from Portugal. He was one of two signatories of the treaty in July 1975 that established São Tomé and Príncipe as an independent nation.
==Biography== Xavier was born on 13 September 1940, in the village of Trindade, on São Tomé Island.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vhv9xkEC2TwC&dq=nuno+xavier&pg=PA90|title=Exorcising Devils from the Throne: São Tomé and Príncipe in the Chaos of Democratization|isbn=9780875868486|date=2011|publisher=Algora Publishers|last1=Agostinho|first1=Nujoma|last2=Francisco|first2=Albertino|page=90}}</ref> He was by profession an aerospace engineer and he worked with the Portuguese Air Force, as São Tomé and Príncipe was at the time a colony of Portugal.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|title="Independencia total, ça quá pôvô mêcê": Anti-colonial Activism and Independence in São Tomé and Príncipe|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ejph/21/2/article-p268_4.pdf|date=9 May 2024|journal=e-Journal of Portuguese History|author=Seibert, Gerhard|page=291}}</ref> He held the distinction of being the first pilot from São Tomé.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telanon.info/sociedade/2022/07/12/37831/engenheiro-que-proclamou-a-independencia-de-stp-e-o-patrono-do-aeroporto-internacional/|publisher=Téla Nón|date=12 July 2022|title=Engenheiro que proclamou a independência de STP é o patrono do aeroporto internacional|language=Portuguese|trans-title=Engineer who proclaimed the independence of STP is the patron of the international airport}}</ref>
Xavier lived for a time in Portugal before returning to São Tomé, where he was an important figure in developing infrastructure.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.infosplusgabon.com/testsite/posts/sao-tomenses-chamados-a-assumir-plenamente-independencia-nacional/|website=Infos Plus Gabon|title=São-tomenses chamados a assumir plenamente independência nacional|language=Portuguese|trans-title=Sao Tomeans called to fully assume national independence|date=13 July 2018|author=Lawson, Antoine}}</ref> He served in the government as Minister of International Coordination and was the first São Toméan to have the position of head of the country's Civil Aeronautics Service.<ref name="auto3"/> He led the construction of bridges, roads, and in his position with the Civil Aeronautics Service, he helped expand the runway of the São Tomé International Airport.<ref name="auto3"/>
Xavier was active in political affairs.<ref name="auto4"/> At the start of July 1975, parliamentary elections were held for members of the Constituent Assembly and Xavier ran under the MLSTP party, winning a seat.<ref name="auto4"/> He subsequently was named the legislature's president.<ref name="auto4"/> A few days later, as president of the Assembly, on 12 July 1975, he signed the treaty with Portuguese officer António Alva Rosa Coutinho that established São Tomé and Príncipe as an independent nation.<ref name="auto4"/>
Later in 1975, Xavier left his post in the Constituent Assembly to become Minister of Transport and Social Equipment for the Transitional Government.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://rstp.st/2022/07/11/aeroporto-internacional-de-sao-tome-passa-a-chamar-se-nuno-xavier/|publisher=Rádio Somos Todos Primos|language=Portuguese|title=Aeroporto internacional de São Tomé passa a chamar-se "Nuno Xavier"|trans-title=São Tomé International Airport is now called "Nuno Xavier"|author=Afonso, Josimar|date=11 July 2022}}</ref> However, in June 1976,{{efn|Sources conflict on whether it was 8 June or 11 June.<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto1"/>}} while on an "official visit" to Portugal, he was killed when the helicopter he was in crashed in Vila Nova de Gaia.<ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telanon.info/politica/2022/07/11/37809/aeroporto-internacional-nuno-xavier/|publisher=Téla Nón|language=Portuguese|title=Aeroporto internacional 'Nuno Xavier'|trans-title='Nuno Xavier' International Airport|date=11 July 2022}}</ref> He was 35 at the time of his death.<ref name="auto2"/>
Xavier had several children, including Marta Dias, who became a singer.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/cultura/cantora-marta-dias-apresenta-novo-discona-damaia_v1104547|publisher=Rádio e Televisão de Portugal|date=12 October 2018|title=Cantora Marta Dias apresenta novo disco na Damaia|trans-title=Singer Marta Dias presents new album at Damaia|language=Portuguese}}</ref> A 2011 book on São Tomé and Príncipe's history described Xavier as a "charismatic figure of the people of [São Tomé and Príncipe]" and a "National Hero".<ref name="auto2"/> On the 47th anniversary of independence, in July 2022, the São Tomé International Airport was renamed in his honour.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Nuno}} Category:1940 births Category:1976 deaths Category:People from Mé-Zóchi District Category:São Tomé and Príncipe aerospace engineers Category:20th-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians Category:Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party politicians Category:Members of the National Assembly (São Tomé and Príncipe) Category:Presidents of the National Assembly (São Tomé and Príncipe) Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1976 Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Portugal Category:Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents