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Manuel António Vassalo e Silva


Governor-General of Portuguese India
In office 1958 – 19 December 1961
President	Américo Tomás
Prime Minister	António de Oliveira Salazar
Preceded by	Paulo Bénard Guedes
Succeeded by	Office abolished (K. P. Candeth as Indian Military Lieutenant-Governor) (Dayanand Bandodkar as Indian Chief Minister)

Personal details
Born	(1899-11-08)8 November 1899 Torres Novas, Portugal
Died	11 August 1985(1985-08-11) (aged 85) Lisbon, Portugal
Profession	Army officer

Manuel António Vassalo e Silva (8 November 1899 – 11 August 1985) was an officer of the Portuguese Army and an overseas administrator. He was the 128th and the last Governor-General of Portuguese India.

Background[edit]

He was the only son of Manuel Caetano da Silva (1870–1926) and his wife Maria da Encarnação Vassalo (1869–1922), and was the brother of the feminist author and anti-government campaigner Maria Lamas. He was married, with two daughters, Joana and Aurora.^{[citation needed]}

Governor-General of Portuguese India[edit]

In 1958, he was nominated to replace Paulo Bénard Guedes as the 128th Governor-General of the Portuguese State of India. At the same time, he was also appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Armed Forces in India.^{[citation needed]}

When the Republic of India sought to annex the territories of Goa, Daman (from which had been previously separated in 1954 and annexed by India in 1961 the enclave of Dadra and Nagar Haveli) and Diu from Portuguese control in December 1961, Manuel Vassalo e Silva, recognizing the futility of facing a superior enemy, disobeyed direct orders from the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Portugal and Dictator-for-life, António de Oliveira Salazar to fight to the death and surrendered the following day to the Indian liberation battle, following several losses and the destruction of a battleship. After that he fell into disgrace at the eyes of Salazar, who never accepted the fait accompli of the annexation.^{[citation needed]}

Vassalo e Silva was greeted with a hostile reception when he returned to Portugal. He was subsequently court martialed for failing to follow orders, expelled from the military and was sent into exile. His rank and freedom were restored only in 1974, after the fall of the dictatorial regime, and he was given back his military status. He was later able to conduct a state visit to Goa, where he was given a warm reception.^[1]

Recently^{[clarification needed]} the Goan-Portuguese politician Narana Coissoró said that Salazar sent him a cyanide capsule for use in case of defeat.^{[citation needed]}

Family[edit]

He was married to Fernanda Pereira e Silva Monteiro and had a son and two daughters:

Fernando Manuel Pereira Monteiro Vassalo e Silva (Lisbon, 6 December 1925 – Lisbon, 9 June 2006), married to Maria Amélia Franco Veiga (Lisbon, 20 March 1932 – 17 March 2004), daughter of António Veiga and wife Rosa Maria Garcia Franco, and had issue, seven children, two married and had issue.
Maria Fernanda Pereira Monteiro Vassalo e Silva, married to Rui António da Cunha Bernardino, and had issue, eight children, eight married and had issue, has now grandchildren and great-grandchildren, the first having the name India.
Maria da Luz Pereira Monteiro Vassalo e Silva, married to António Faias Sors Lagrifa, born in Luanda, and had issue (their son Jorge Manuel Vassalo Sors Lagrifa (7 May 1948 – 6 February 2005) was the second husband without issue of Ana Cristina da Gama Caeiro da Mota Veiga, born in Lisbon, Santos o Velho, on 4 June 1950, daughter of António da Mota Veiga and wife Maria Emília da Gama Caeiro, formerly married and divorced from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa).^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

^ "Dossier Goa - A Recusa Do Sacrifício Inútil Summary". Shvoong.com. Retrieved 2009-11-09.

v t e Governors and Viceroys of the Portuguese State of India (1505–1961)
Kingdom	Dom Francisco de Almeida 1505–1509 Afonso de Albuquerque 1510–15 Lopo Soares de Albergaria 1515–18 Diogo Lopes de Sequeira 1518–22 Dom Duarte de Menezes 1522–24 Dom Vasco da Gama 1524 Dom Henrique de Menezes 1525–26 Lopo Vaz de Sampaio 1526–29 Nuno da Cunha 1529–38 Dom Garcia de Noronha 1538–40 Dom Estêvão da Gama 1540–42 Martim Afonso de Sousa 1542–45 Dom João de Castro 1545–48 Garcia de Sá 1548–49 Jorge Cabral 1549–50 Dom Afonso de Noronha 1550–54 Pedro Mascarenhas 1554–55 Francisco Barreto 1555–58 Dom Constantino de Bragança 1558–61 Dom Francisco Coutinho 1561–64 João de Mendonça 1564 Dom António de Noronha 1564–68 Dom Luís de Ataíde 1568–71 Dom António de Noronha "Catarraz" 1571–73 António Moniz Barreto 1573–76 Dom Diogo de Menezes 1576–78 Fernão Teles de Menezes 1581 Francisco de Mascarenhas 1581–84 Dom Duarte de Menezes 1584–88 Dom Manuel de Sousa Coutinho 1588–91 Matias de Albuquerque 1591–97 Dom Francisco da Gama 1597–1600 Aires de Saldanha 1600–05 Martim Afonso de Castro 1605–07 Aleixo de Meneses 1607–09 André Furtado de Mendonça 1609–10 Rui Lourenço de Távora 1610–12 Dom Jerónimo de Azevedo 1612–17 Dom João Coutinho 1617–19 Fernão de Albuquerque 1619–22 D. Francisco da Gama (second time) 1622–28 Luís de Brito e Meneses 1629–29 Miguel de Noronha 1629–35 Pero da Silva 1635–39 António Teles de Meneses 1639–40 João da Silva Telo e Meneses 1640–44 Filipe Mascarenhas 1644–51 João da Silva Telo e Meneses 1651 Vasco Mascarenhas 1652–55 Brás de Castro 1655 Rodrigo Lobo da Silveira 1655–56 Manuel Mascarenhas Homem 1656 António de Melo e Castro 1662–66 João Nunes da Cunha 1666–68 Luís de Mendonça Furtado e Albuquerque 1671–76 Dom Pedro de Almeida 1676–78 António Brandão 1678–81 Francisco de Távora 1681–86 Rodrigo da Costa 1686–90 Dom Miguel de Almeida 1690–91 Pedro António de Meneses Noronha de Albuquerque 1692–97 António Luís Gonçalves da Câmara Coutinho 1697–1701 Caetano de Melo e Castro 1702–1707 Dom Rodrigo da Costa 1707–12 Vasco Fernandes César de Meneses 1712–17 Sebastião de Andrade Pessanha 1717 Luís Carlos Inácio Xavier de Meneses 1717–20 Francisco José de Sampaio e Castro 1720–23 Cristóvão de Melo 1723 João de Saldanha da Gama 1725–32 Pedro de Mascarenhas 1732–40 Luís Carlos Inácio Xavier de Meneses 1740–42 Pedro Miguel de Almeida Portugal e Vasconcelos 1745–50 Francisco de Assis de Távora 1750–54 Luís Mascarenhas 1754–56 Manuel de Saldanha e Albuquerque 1758–65 João José de Melo 1768–74 Filipe de Valadares Sotomaior 1774 Dom José Pedro da Câmara 1774–79 Dom Frederico Guilherme de Sousa Holstein 1779–86 Francisco da Cunha e Meneses 1786–94 Francisco António da Veiga Cabral da Câmara 1794–1806 Dom Bernardo José Maria da Silveira e Lorena 1806–16 Dom Diogo de Sousa 1816–21 Dom Manuel da Câmara 1823–25 Dom Manuel Francisco Zacarias de Portugal e Castro 1826–35 Bernardo Peres da Silva 1835 Dom Manuel Francisco Zacarias de Portugal e Castro 1835 Joaquim Manuel Correia da Silva e Gama 1835 Bernardo Peres da Silva 1836–37 Simão Infante de Lacerda de Sousa Tavares 1837–39 José António Vieira da Fonseca 1839 Manuel José Mendes 1839–40 José Joaquim Lopes Lima 1840–42 Francisco Xavier da Silva Pereira 1842–43 Joaquim Mourão Garcez Palha 1843–44 José Ferreira Pestana 1844–51 José Joaquim Januário Lapa 1851–55 António César de Vasconcelos Correia 1855–64 José Ferreira Pestana 1864–70 Januário Correia de Almeida 1870–71 Joaquim José Macedo e Couto 1871–75 João Tavares de Almeida 1875–77 António Sérgio de Sousa 1877–78 Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque 1878–82 Carlos Eugénio Correia da Silva 1882–86 Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral 1886 Augusto César Cardoso de Carvalho 1886–89 Joaquim Augusto Mouzinho de Albuquerque 1889 Vasco Guedes de Carvalho e Meneses 1889–91 Francisco Maria da Cunha 1891 João Manuel Correia Taborda 1891–92 Francisco Teixeira da Silva 1892–93 Rafael Jácome de Andrade 1893–94 João Manuel Correia Taborda 1894 Elesbão José de Bettencourt Lapa 1894–95 Rafael Jácome de Andrade 1895–96 Prince Afonso Henriques de Bragança 1896 João António de Brissac das Neves Ferreira 1896–97 João Manuel Correia Taborda 1897 Joaquim José Machado 1897–1900 Eduardo Augusto Rodrigues Galhardo 1900–05 Arnaldo de Novais Guedes Rebelo 1905–07 José Maria de Sousa Horta e Costa 1907–10
Republic	Francisco Manuel Couceiro da Costa 1910–17 Francisco Maria Peixoto Vieira 1917 José de Freitas Ribeiro 1917–19 Augusto de Paiva Bobela da Mota 1919–20 Jaime Alberto de Castro Morais 1920–25 Francisco Maria Peixoto Vieira 1925 Mariano Martins 1925–26 Tito Augusto de Morais 1926 Acúrcio Mendes da Rocha Dinis 1926–27 Pedro Francisco Massano de Amorim 1927–29 Acúrcio Mendes da Rocha Dinis 1929 Alfredo Pedro de Almeida 1929–30 João Carlos Craveiro Lopes 1930–36 Francisco Craveiro Lopes 1936–38 José Ricardo Pereira Cabral 1938–45 Paulo Bénard Guedes 1945–46 José Ferreira Bossa 1946–47 José Alves Ferreira 1947–48 Fernando de Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias 1948–52 Paulo Bénard Guedes 1952–58 Manuel António Vassalo e Silva 1958–61
Note: The head of Portuguese India could have either the title of "Governor" or the more prestigious "Viceroy" though their responsibilities were the same

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