António Guterres

António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres was born on 30 April 1949 in Lisbon. He studied physics and electrical engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico and entered Portuguese politics after the 1974 Carnation Revolution. He served in parliament, led the Socialist Party from 1992, and was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. His governments oversaw Portugal’s entry into the euro, Expo ’98 in Lisbon, and the 1999 return of Macau from Portugal to China. He later presided over the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005.

From 2005 to 2015 he was United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a period that included large displacement crises in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. The UN General Assembly appointed him Secretary-General in 2016; he began the post on 1 January 2017 and was given a second term through 2026. His office has focused on climate, pandemic recovery, and wars including those in Ukraine and Gaza. He has also pushed for reform of UN financing and for attention to the Sustainable Development Goals. The site’s Chinese New Year for 1949 is 29 January, so 30 April is Ox/Taurus.

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