António Granjo

Who was António Granjo?

António Joaquim Granjo was a Portuguese lawyer and politician.

He was a republican from his youth, and was a member of the National Constituent Assembly, elected on 28 May 1911. He fought during Portuguese participation in World War I, and wrote a book about his experiences.

After President Sidónio Pais was shot dead, Granjo took action against the Monarchy of the North, an attempt to restore a royalist regime in the north of Portugal, in 1919. He was President of the Municipal Chamber of Chaves, from February to July 1919. He was elected, the same year, to the Chamber of Deputies, by the Evolutionist Republican Party, later being a founder of its successor movement, the Liberal Republican Party. Minister of Justice during Domingos Pereira's coalition government, he served two brief terms as Prime Minister, the first time, from 19 July to 20 November 1920, in a liberal government. Afterwards he was nominated Prime Minister again, to take the place of another liberal, Tomé de Barros Queiroz, on 30 August 1921.

Granjo was assassinated, while in office, during the infamous "Noite Sangrenta", on 19 October 1921. The political affiliation of his murderers is still a matter of dispute. That same night, two other prominent republicans of moderately right-wing sympathies, Machado Santos and Carlos da Maia, also lost their lives.