Portal:São Tomé and Príncipe/Selected biography/1

Fradique Melo de Menezes (born March 21, 1942) has been the President of São Tomé and Príncipe since 2001. São Toméan people just call him Fradique.

Fradique de Menezes was born on the then Portuguese colony of São Tomé in 1942, the son of a Portuguese man and a local woman. He attended high school in Portugal, and then studied Education and Psychology at the Free University of Brussels (now split into the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel). Menezes is a successful businessman. He was foreign minister of São Tome and Príncipe from 1986 until 1987. He was elected President in July 2001 with about 55.2% of the vote, defeating Manuel Pinto da Costa, who received about 40%. Menezes took office on September 3, 2001. His eligibility as a candidate was questioned, since he also held Portuguese citizenship, but he renounced this and his candidacy was approved. On July 16, 2003, while he was away in Nigeria, there was a military coup d'etat led by Fernando Pereira, but Menezes would be later restored back to power on July 23, 2003, following an agreement.

Menezes was re-elected on July 30, 2006, winning 60.58% of the vote and defeating Patrice Trovoada, son of former president Miguel Trovoada.