Antonio de Oliveira Salazar (28 April 1889 ??27 July 1970) was a Portuguese politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of Portugal for 36 years, from 1932 to 1968. Salazar founded and led the Estado Novo ('New State'), the corporatist authoritarian government that ruled Portugal until 1974.

Salazar used police, censorship and suppression to quell opposition, especially that related to the Communist movement. He supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, but kept Portugal neutral during World War II. The doctrine of Pluricontinentalism was the basis of his territorial policy, conceiving of the Portuguese Empire as a unified state that spanned multiple continents. The Estado Novo would eventually collapse during the Carnation Revolution, four years after Salazar's death.