Fontes Pereira de Melo

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Fontes Pereira de Melo
Fontes Pereira de Melo in 1883
Prime Minister of Portugal
In office 14 November 1881 – 16 February 1886
Monarch	Luís
Preceded by	António Rodrigues Sampaio
Succeeded by	José Luciano de Castro
In office 26 January 1878 – 29 May 1879
Monarch	Luís
Preceded by	Duke of Ávila
Succeeded by	Anselmo José Braamcamp
In office 13 September 1871 – 6 March 1877
Monarch	Luís
Preceded by	Duke of Ávila
Succeeded by	Duke of Ávila
Personal details
Born	(1819-09-08)8 September 1819 Lisbon, Portugal
Died	22 January 1887(1887-01-22) (aged 67) Lisbon, Portugal
Political party	Regenerator Party

António Maria de Fontes Pereira de Melo GCTE KGF (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈfõtɨʃ pɨˈɾɐjɾɐ ðɨ ˈmɛlu]; Lisbon, 8 September 1819 – 22 January 1887) was a Portuguese statesman and engineer. He was a leading parliamentarian and political figure of his time. Among other posts held, he was six times minister of finance and minister of public works. From 1871 to 1886, he served three times as prime minister of Portugal, for a total of 11 years.

Fontes Pereira de Melo is mostly remembered for implementing dynamic industrial and public infrastructure policy, which became known as Fontismo (after his name). He also implemented educational reforms in accordance with the industrialization process he initiated (see Instituto Industrial de Lisboa and Escola Industrial do Porto).