He was born on 6 October 1898 in Idanha-a-Nova, eastern Portugal. An army officer, he was governor of Cape Verde from 9 March 1918 to 1919. Having participated in movements against the democratic governments, he was dismissed from the Portuguese Army in 1920, only to be reinstated after the 28 May 1926 coup d'état. He was governor of Portuguese Timor from 30 September 1926 to 22 December 1928. He encouraged Portuguese immigration to the colony, including political deportees. Under his rule, forced labour took a rise in East Timor.