José Manuel Barroso

Biography

José Manuel Barroso was born in Lisbon on 23 March 1956. After graduating in law from the University of Lisbon, he moved to Geneva where he completed a Diploma in European Studies at the European University Institute, University of Geneva, and a Master's degree in Political Science from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Geneva, earning an honours in both.

He has been a visiting professor at the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.). In 1995, he became Head of the International Relations Department of Lusíada University, Lisbon.

He became Prime Minister of Portugal in April 2002. He remained in office until July 2004 when he was nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament to the post of President of the European Commission. In June 2009 the European Council unanimously nominated him for a second term and he was re-elected by an absolute majority in the European Parliament in September 2009.

José Manuel Barroso has been awarded several honorary degrees from universities around the world and he his the recipient of many state decorations.

He is married to Margarida Sousa Uva. The couple have three children: Luís, Guilherme and Francisco.