The former president of Portugal, Mario Soares, has died aged 92. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Red Cross hospital in Lisbon on 13 December.

Considered as a ‘father of democracy’ in his country Soares served as Portugal’s Prime Minister, twice, and then as President. Repeatedly arrested for political activity and exiled during the dictatorship, early in his career as a lawyer he defended dissidents.

He was born in 1924 in Lisbon, in the time of the short-lived First Portuguese Republic, still a colonial power then.

The whole of Europe is mourning the death of former Portuguese president Mario Soares, a father of democracy after years of dictatorship — S&D Group (@TheProgressives) January 7, 2017

Former #President and also #PrimeMinister of #Portugal#MarioSoares has just passed away aged 92. For the vast majority, he was a hero — Victor ANGELO (@vangelofreebird) January 7, 2017