Governor of Macau
Vitorino graduated in law from the University of Lisbon. A lawyer by training, he was first elected to the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal), the national parliament, in the 1980 elections. In 1983, he served as Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs, a junior minister role in the grand coalition government led by Prime Minister Mário Soares. After the government's defeat in the 1985 elections, Vitorino became a deputy secretary for the Governor of Macau.