Luís Capoulas Santos

Capoulas Santos
Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 November 2015
President	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Prime Minister	António Costa
Preceded by	Assunção Cristas
In office 3 October 1998 – 6 April 2002
President	Jorge Sampaio
Prime Minister	António Guterres
Preceded by	Fernando Gomes da Silva
Succeeded by	Armando Sevinate Pinto
Member of the European Parliament
In office 20 July 2004 – 30 June 2014
Constituency	Portugal
Personal details
Born	Luís Manuel Capoulas Santos (1951-08-22) 22 August 1951 Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal
Political party	National: Socialist Party European: Party of European Socialists
Alma mater	University of Évora

Luís Manuel Capoulas Santos (born August 22, 1951 in Montemor-o-Novo), commonly known as Capoulas Santos, is a Portuguese politician, currently serving as Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development.

Life before politics

Capoulas Santos was born in Montemor-o-Novo. He is a licenciate in Sociology from the University of Évora. He worked as a secondary education teacher before taking a position as a technician in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Political activity

His political career started in 1976, after being elected as an alderman in his home city of Montemor-o-Novo.

He was first elected to the Assembly of the Republic in 1991, and took office as Minister of Agriculture in 1998, replacing Fernando Gomes da Silva, under whom he was Secretary of State. He kept the office until 2002, when the government led by António Guterres resigned after a landslide defeat in local elections.

Capoulas Santos was elected Member of the European Parliament for the Socialist Party; part of the Party of European Socialists, between 2004 and 2014.

He returned to the Ministry of Agriculture in 2015, after the nomination of António Costa as Prime Minister.

Awards

• Grand Cross of the Order of Entrepreneurial Merit, Category of Agricultural Merit (17/01/2006).