Caetano, Marcello

Caetano, Marcello (mərsĕ`l käətä`n), 1906–80, Portuguese lawyer and statesman. He received a doctorate in law (1931) from the Univ. of Lisbon, where he taught after 1932, serving as professor (1940–68) and as rector (1959–62). A close associate of António de Oliveira Salazar, he was instrumental in planning the dictator's corporate form of government, the Estado Novo, and from the 1930s held various positions in the regime. He served as minister for the colonies (1944–47) and deputy prime minister (1955–58). He became prime minister of Portugal in 1968 after Salazar had been incapacitated by a stroke. While adhering to the basic conservative policies of his predecessor, including retention of the Portuguese overseas colonies, suppression of dissent, and staunch anti-Communism, he initiated modest political and economic reforms. Caetano's government was overthrown by a military coup in Apr., 1974, and he was exiled to Madeira and later to Brazil.