António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, took office on 1st January 2017.
Guterres was born in Lisbon in 1949 and earned an engineering degree from the Instituto Superior Técnico. He speaks Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish effortlessly. He has two children, a stepson, and three grandchildren. He is married to Catarina de Almeida Pinto.
Before becoming Secretary-General, Guterres was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, leading one of the world's foremost humanitarian organisations during some of the most serious displacement crises in decades.
Prior to joining UNHCR, Guterres spent over 20 years in government and public service. He served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, during which time he was heavily involved in the international effort to resolve the crisis in East Timor.
He oversaw the adoption of the Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs as president of the European Council in early 2000, and he co-chaired the inaugural summit between the European Union and Africa. From 1991 to 2002, he served in the Portuguese Council of State.
In 1976, Guterres was chosen to serve in the Portuguese Parliament, where he did so for 17 years. He presided over both the Parliamentary Committee for Territorial Administration, Municipalities, and Environment and the Parliamentary Committee for Economy, Finance, and Planning during that time. He was also in charge of the parliamentary group for his party.
In the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1981 to 1983, Guterres served as chair of the Committee on Demography, Migration, and Refugees.
