Francisco Xavier do Amaral

Francisco Xavier do Amaral
Francisco Xavier do Amaral during election campaign in 2007
President of East Timor
In office 28 November 1975 – 7 December 1975
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (acting)
Personal details
Born	1937 Turiscai, Portuguese Timor
Died	6 March 2012 (aged 75) Dili, East Timor
Nationality	East Timorese
Political party	Timorese Social Democratic Association
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Roman Catholic

Francisco Xavier do Amaral (1937 – 6 March 2012) was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975. He was a member of the National Parliament for the Timorese Social Democratic Association from 2001 until his death. Amaral was also known as "Abo (Grandfather) Xavier," a term of endearment, by East Timorese.

A member of the Mambai ethnic group, Amaral was a descendent of kings who ruled what is now the south-central Manufahi District of East Timor.

Amaral founded the Timorese Social Democratic Association in the early 1970s. The party, which is considered a forerunner of the Fretilin, advocated for independence from Portugal.

Amaral was sworn in as the country's first President on 28 November 1975, when East Timor declared independence from Portugal. His tenure in the presidency last only 10 days before he was forced to flee into the mountainous interior with the Fretilin due to the Indonesian invasion of the country of the country on 7 December 1975. Though most world governments refused to recognise East Timor's independence or Amaral's authority during his ten-day rule in 1975, the East Timorese people regarded Amaral as the country's first president, according to Damien Kingsbury, a political science professor at Deakin University and a leading expert on East Timor.