José Pinto Coelho

Who is José Pinto Coelho?

José de Almeida e Vasconcelos Pinto Coelho commonly known just by José Pinto-Coelho, is a Portuguese far-right and nationalist politician, president of the National Renovator Party since 2005.

The second son of José Gabriel Braamcamp Freire Pinto Coelho and first wife Maria Pia Penalva de Almeida e Vasconcelos, Pinto-Coelho grew up in Lisbon until the age of 14, but due to the revolutionary period in Portugal, his father, an architect, was forced to look for work abroad, and the family moved to Brazil.

After returning to Portugal he began studying Law at the Catholic University of Portugal in Lisbon, but he quit the university and graduated in Graphic Design from IADE in Lisbon.

Since the late 70s he became affiliated with the Nationalist Movement, and collaborated with the magazine Futuro Presente and with the newspaper O Século directed by Jaime Nogueira Pinto. In the 90s he became a member of the National Alliance and in 1999 was one of the founders of the National Renewal Party. On 25 June 2005, at the party's 2nd National Convention, he was elected President.