António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ðɨ oliˈvɐjɾɐ sɐlɐˈzaɾ]; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese professor and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo (New State), the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal from 1932 to 1974. In 1940, Life Magazine called Salazar "the greatest Portuguese since Prince Henry the Navigator".

Opposed to communism, socialism, anarchism and liberalism, Salazar's rule was corporatist, conservative, and nationalistic in nature. Its policy envisaged the perpetuation of Portugal as a pluricontinental empire under the doctrine of lusotropicalism, with Angola and Mozambique as main colonies (as well as Portuguese provinces after 1951), and a source of civilization and stability to the overseas societies in the African and Asian possessions.