POLITICIANS from Timor-Leste

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary East Timorese Politicians of all time. This list of famous East Timorese Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of East Timorese Politicians.

1. José Ramos-Horta (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 64.40, José Ramos-Horta is the most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 70 different languages on wikipedia.

José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL GColIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ˈʁɐ̃muz ˈɔɾtɐ]; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician. He has been the president of East Timor since 2022, having previously also held the position from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2006 and Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. He was a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, for working "towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor". As a founder and former member of Fretilin, Ramos-Horta served as the exiled spokesman for the East Timorese resistance during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor (1975–1999). While he continued to work with Fretilin, he resigned from the party in 1988, becoming an independent politician. After East Timor achieved independence in 2002, Ramos-Horta was appointed as the country's first foreign minister. He served in this position until his resignation on 25 June 2006, amidst political turmoil. On 26 June 2006, following the resignation of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, Ramos-Horta was appointed as acting prime minister by President Xanana Gusmão. Two weeks later, on 10 July 2006, he was sworn in as the second prime minister of East Timor. He was elected as President in 2007. On 11 February 2008, he was shot during an assassination attempt. After leaving office as president in 2012, Ramos-Horta was appointed as the United Nations' Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) on 2 January 2013. He was re-elected to the presidency in 2022.

2. Xanana Gusmão (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 62.97, Xanana Gusmão is the 2nd most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ ɐlɨˈʃɐ̃dɾɨ ʃɐˈnɐnɐ ɣuʒˈmɐ̃w]; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. He has served as the 6th prime minister of East Timor since 2023, previously serving in that position from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he also served as East Timor's first president since its re-establishment of independence, from 2002 to 2007.

3. Francisco Guterres (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 55.69, Francisco Guterres is the 3rd most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Francisco Guterres, popularly known as Lú-Olo (born 7 September 1954), is an East Timorese politician who served as 6th president of East Timor from 2017 to 2022. He is also the president of the political party Fretilin, and he was the first president of the National Parliament of East Timor from 2002 to 2007. As the Fretilin candidate, he stood in the 2007 presidential election and 2012 presidential election, but was defeated in the second round by independent candidates on both occasions. He also contested the 2017 presidential election, and with the support of former prime minister Xanana Gusmão and the CNRT, was elected the 6th president of East Timor. Guterres was run for re-election in 2022 for second term, but defeated in a landslide in the second round by Ramos-Horta. He is considered as a centre-left politician.

4. Taur Matan Ruak (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 55.11, Taur Matan Ruak is the 4th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

José Maria de Vasconcelos (born 10 October 1956), popularly known as Taur Matan Ruak (Tetum for "Two Sharp Eyes"), is an East Timorese politician who served as 8th prime minister of East Timor from 2018 to 2023. He also served as 5th president of East Timor from 2012 to 2017. Before entering politics, he was the commander of the FALINTIL-Forças de Defesa de Timor-Leste (F-FDTL), the military of East Timor, from 2002 until 6 October 2011. Prior to serving in the F-FDTL, he was the last commander of the Armed Forces of National Liberation of East Timor or FALINTIL (Forças Armadas para a Liberação Nacional de Timor Leste), the insurgent army that resisted the Indonesian occupation of the territory from 1975 to 1999. Leaving the military in 2011, he stood as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential election and prevailed in the second round of the vote, held in April 2012.

5. Mari Alkatiri (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 52.19, Mari Alkatiri is the 5th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Mari bin Amude Alkatiri (Arabic: مرعي بن عمودة الكثيري Mar'ī bin Amūdah al-Kaṯīrī; born 26 November 1949) is a Timorese politician. He was Prime Minister of East Timor from May 2002 until his resignation on 26 June 2006 following weeks of political unrest in the country, and again from September 2017 until May 2018. He is the Secretary-General of the Fretilin party and was the former President of the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse. Alkatiri is an Hadhrami Arab by ethnicity and comes from the Al-Kathiri tribe, a branch of which ruled the sultanate of Kathiri in the Hadhramaut, which is now part of Yemen. He is one of very few Muslim politicians in a country that is 99.5% Christian. The main issues facing his second term as prime minister were environmental conservation, cultural conservation, accession of East Timor to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, free public education and public health services, and building the country's economy, notably the lagging services and manufacturing sectors.

6. Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946 - 1978)

With an HPI of 51.82, Nicolau dos Reis Lobato is the 6th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (24 May 1946 – 31 December 1978) was an East Timorese politician who is considered the national hero of the country.

7. Francisco Xavier do Amaral (1937 - 2012)

With an HPI of 50.60, Francisco Xavier do Amaral is the 7th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Francisco Xavier do Amaral (3 December 1937 – 6 March 2012) was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975. He was a member of the National Parliament for the Timorese Social Democratic Association from 2001 until his death in 2012. Amaral was also known as "Abo (Grandfather) Xavier", a term of endearment, by East Timorese.

8. Estanislau da Silva (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 43.01, Estanislau da Silva is the 8th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Estanislau da Conceição Aleixo Maria da Silva (born 4 August 1952) is an East Timorese politician and a key member of Fretilin. He was acting Prime Minister from May 2007 to August 2007. A member of Fretilin since 1974, Da Silva served on the diplomatic front for the East Timorese resistance during the years of the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste (1975 to 1999). During the occupation, Da Silva resided in Mozambique (1976 to 1984), Portugal (1975 to 1976 and 1984 to 1985) and Australia (1985 to 1999), before returning to Timor-Leste in 1999. After Timor-Leste achieved independence in 2002, Da Silva was appointed as the country's first Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. On 10 July 2006, he was sworn in as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Timor-Leste. He was sworn in as the acting Prime Minister on 19 May 2007 to replace José Ramos-Horta who had been elected President of the young nation. He left office when Xanana Gusmão was sworn in as Prime Minister on 8 August 2007, following the June 2007 parliamentary election.

9. Rui Maria de Araújo (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 40.97, Rui Maria de Araújo is the 9th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Rui Maria de Araújo (born 21 May 1964) is an East Timorese politician who served as its prime minister from 2015 to 2017. He is a physician and member of Fretilin. He was Minister of Health from 2001 to 2006 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007. Araújo was inaugurated as Prime Minister of East Timor on 16 February 2015. He was replaced in 2017 by Mari Alkatiri.

10. Fernando de Araújo (1963 - 2015)

With an HPI of 36.17, Fernando de Araújo is the 10th most famous East Timorese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Fernando de Araújo, also known as Lasama (26 February 1963 – 2 June 2015) was an East Timorese activist and politician. He was a clandestine activist for the independence of East Timor, and then founded the Democratic Party after independence. He was President of the National Parliament of East Timor from 2007 to 2012. He also served as the Acting President for two months in early 2008.