Ernesto Melo Antunes

Ernesto Augusto de Melo Antunes, GCL (Lisbon, 2 October 1933 – 10 August 1999) was a Portuguese military officer who had a major role in the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974.

Melo Autunes was the son of Ernesto Augusto Antunes (1907–1986) and Maria José Forjaz de Melo (1911–1987). Born in Lisbon, he moved to Angola at the age of 6, as a result of his father's military posting. He returned to Portugal at the age of 10 and lived in Aveiro and Tavira. Under pressure from his family, he entered military college in 1953. An avid reader since youth, he attended classes at the University of Lisbon in Philosophy (his main interest) and Law. His intellectual curiosity led him to read Marx and other authors prohibited by the Portuguese Dictatorship, and led to his 'exile' to the Azores in 1957.

Deeply involved in cultural and political activities he formed in 1962, with Manuel Alegre, the Patriotic Action of the Azores. The group which supported activities to counter political propaganda. His most daring project was instigating a military and popular revolt in the Azores, with the promised support of General Humberto Delgado. This attempt was unsuccessful, as General Delgado withdrew support.

In 1971-1973, he completed his third and last combat posting in Angola, an experience that was instrumental in forming his anti-colonialist political thinking. It was a traumatic experience, which led him to declare that he had fought on the "wrong side."

His initial participation in the Movement of Captains, a military group plotting to overthrow the dictatorship, occurred in 1974. He was recognised immediately for his solid knowledge, and he was asked to draft the political program of the Movement of the Armed Forces (MFA). Thus began his role as the "intellectual in uniform" and his role as the author of some of the most important political documents of the Carnation Revolution.

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