“Heroes” sendoff given to Portuguese media mogul Francisco Pinto Balsemão

The Portuguese media mogul Francisco Pinto Balsemão, who founded the newspaper Expresso, TV station SIC TV and the centre-right PSD political party, was given a “heroes” sendoff on Thursday with military honours at the Jerónimos Monastery.

A mass was celebrated for the one-time Prime Minister (1981-1983), who died on Monday at the age of 88, early in the afternoon on Thursday.

The ceremony was attended by Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro. The casket was received at the entrance of the monastery before going on to Cascais cemetery where the private funeral with family members took place.

“I have no doubt that our father, grandfather, father-in-law and husband is and was our hero”, said Francisco Pedro Balsemão, the media mogul’s son who now heads his media empire, and which is in negotiations to seek a new investor in the form of the Berlusconi family who are said to be interested in buying a “relevant stake” in the company.

In a eulogy, Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called him a “visionary”, a “fighter of causes who “preferred the loneliness of resistance to the dictates of submission”.

The Cardinal of Lisbon, Dom Manuel Clemente, who presided over the ceremony in his sermon used a phrase from the businessman’s memoirs ‘Memorias’ to remind that “life doesn’t end, it just transforms”.

Source: Negócios