Honoris Causa Degrees
Here you can find a list of the national and international figures to whom the University of Coimbra has awarded an honorary doctorate (Doctor 'Honoris Causa'), along with further information about the recipients and ceremonies.
The 1918 Statutes of the University of Coimbra stated for the first time that Doctor Honoris Causa could be awarded "to illustrious personalities worthy of this distinction".
At the University of Coimbra, the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa was awarded for the first time three years after the publication of this statute, on 15 April 1921. Since then, many eminent personalities from a wide range of fields have been awarded this prestigious title.
DATE |
|
RECIPIENT |
NOMINATING FACULTY |
| 2025 | 18 June | Hartmut Neven | Sciences and Technology |
| 2025 | 13 May | Felipe VI of Spain | Law |
| 2025 | 13 May | Sergio Mattarella | Economics |
| 2023 | 12 April | José Maria Peiró | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 2022 | 8 May | Rui Nabeiro | Economics |
DATE |
|
NAME |
FIELD |
| 2019 | 26th May | Luis Martí-Bonmatí | Medicine |
| 2019 | 26th May | André Jan Louis D’Hoore | Medicine |
| 2018 | 23rd November | Krzysztof Matyjaszewski | Sciences and Technology |
| 2018 | 2nd October | Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi | Arts and Humanities |
| 2018 | 8th June | Enrique Cadenas | Pharmacy |
| 2017 | 31st October | Jean-Claude Juncker | Law |
| 2017 | 30th January | Prokópis Pavlópoulos | Law |
| 2017 | 11th January | Detlev Ganten | Medicine |
| 2016 | 23rd October | Mariano Sanz Alonso | Medicine |
| 2016 | 22nd May | António Guterres | Economics |
| 2016 | 20th January | Luis Portela | Pharmacy |
| 2015 | 19th April | Dominique Franco | Medicine |
| 2015 | 28th January | José Murillo de Carvalho | Arts and Humanities |
| 2014 | 29th May | António Arnaut | Economics |
| 2013 | 3rd July | John Michael Newton | Pharmacy |
| 2013 | 18th May | Cleonice Seroa Berardinelli | Arts and Humanities |
| 2013 | 23rd March | Alain Carpentier | Medicine |
| 2013 | 23rd March | Magdi Yacoub | Medicine |
| 2013 | 13rd February | Neil Armstrong | Sport Sciences and Physical Education |
| 2012 | 21st October | Robert Alexy | Law |
| 2011 | 28th September | Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão | Arts and Humanities |
| 2011 | 21st September | António Damásio | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 2011 | 30th March | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | Law |
| 2011 | 13th March | Amartya Sen | Economics |
| 2010 | 29th September | John Greville Agard Pocock | Arts and Humanities |
| 2010 | 24th January | Jorge Sampaio | Law |
DATE |
|
NAME |
FIELD |
| 2009 | 31st May | Ângelo Fiori | Medicine |
| 2009 | 31st May | Bernard Henry Knight | Medicine |
| 2009 | 31st May | Bernd Brinkman | Medicine |
| 2009 | 31st May | Enrique Villanueva Cañadas | Medicine |
| 2009 | 10th May | Benito dela Castillo Garcia | Pharmacy |
| 2009 | 8th February | Juan Somavia | Economics |
| 2009 | 1st February | Enrique Moreno Gonzalez | Medicine |
| 2008 | 8th July | Kenneth Fox | Sport Sciences and Physical Education |
| 2008 | 8th July | Robert Malina | Sport Sciences and Physical Education |
| 2008 | 6th April | Walter Friedrich Osswald | Medicine |
| 2007 | 9th December | António de Almeida Santos | Law |
| 2007 | 30th September | Raul José Hestnes Ferreira | Sciences and Technology |
| 2007 | 23rd June | Manfred Eigen | Sciences and Technology |
| 2007 | 27th May | Erik Jayme | Law |
| 2007 | 27th May | Francisco Amaral Neto | Law |
| 2007 | 27th May | Peter Hünerfeld | Law |
| 2006 | 23rd July | Carlos Neves Pato | Medicine |
| 2006 | 25th June | Bernard Gersh | Medicine |
| 2006 | 25th June | Gunther Breithardt | Medicine |
| 2006 | 11th June | Immanuel Wallerstein | Economics |
| 2006 | 4th June | Sven Erik Jorgensen | Sciences and Technology |
| 2006 | 28th April | Josep Borrell Fontelles | Law |
| 2005 | 3rd June | Peter Floor | Arts and Humanities |
| 2005 | 3rd June | Knud-Erik Sabroe | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 2005 | 3rd June | Simon-Pierre Nothomb | Economics |
| 2005 | 3rd June | António Savini | Sciences and Technology |
| 2004 | 11th July | José Saramago | Arts and Humanities |
| 2004 | 30th May | Seamus Heaney | Arts and Humanities |
| 2004 | 9th January | Gerd Georg Heuss | Sciences and Technology |
| 2003 | 30th November | José Ángel García Rodríguez | Medicine |
| 2003 | 16th November | Jacques Derrida | Arts and Humanities |
| 2003 | 3rd July | José Carreras | Medicine |
| 2003 | 15th June | Pedro José Navascués Palacio | Arts and Humanities |
| 2002 | 15th June | Manuel Cecilio Díaz y Díaz | Arts and Humanities |
| 2002 | 25th May | Manuel Jacinto Nunes | Economics |
| 2001 | 17th November | Fernando de La Rua | Law |
| 2001 | 24th June | Dário Olivieri | Medicine |
| 2001 | 3rd June | Povl Ole Fanger | Sciences and Technology |
| 2001 | 27th May | Harold Bloom | Arts and Humanities |
| 2001 | 18th February | Fernando Aguiar Branco | Arts and Humanities |
| 2000 | 19th November | Arthur Lee-Francis Askins | Arts and Humanities |
| 2000 | 19th November | Evanildo Cavalcante Bechara | Arts and Humanities |
| 2000 | 5th November | Luis Concheiro Carro | Medicine |
| 2000 | 9th July | Manuel Sanchez Salorio | Medicine |
| 2000 | 8th June | António Manuel Monteiro | Law |
| 2000 | 4th June | Alain Guilbert | Medicine |
| 2000 | 4th June | Jacques Baudet | Medicine |
| 2009 | 31 de maio | Ângelo Fiori | Medicina |
| 2009 | 31 de maio | Bernard Henry Knight | Medicina |
| 2009 | 31 de maio | Bernd Brinkman | Medicina |
| 2009 | 31 de maio | Enrique Villanueva Cañadas | Medicina |
| 2009 | 10 de maio | Benito dela Castillo Garcia | Farmácia |
| 2009 | 8 de fevereiro | Juan Somavia | Economia |
| 2009 | 1 de fevereiro | Enrique Moreno Gonzalez | Medicina |
| 2008 | 8 de julho | Kenneth Fox | Ciências do Desporto e Educação Física |
| 2008 | 8 de julho | Robert Malina | Ciências do Desporto e Educação Física |
| 2008 | 6 de abril | Walter Friedrich Osswald | Medicina |
| 2007 | 9 de dezembro | António de Almeida Santos | Direito |
| 2007 | 30 de setembro | Raul José Hestnes Ferreira | Ciências e Tecnologia |
| 2007 | 23 de junho | Manfred Eigen | Ciências e Tecnologia |
| 2007 | 27 de maio | Erik Jayme | Direito |
| 2007 | 27 de maio | Francisco Amaral Neto | Direito |
| 2007 | 27 de maio | Peter Hünerfeld | Direito |
| 2006 | 23 de julho | Carlos Neves Pato | Medicina |
| 2006 | 25 de junho | Bernard Gersh | Medicina |
| 2006 | 25 de junho | Gunther Breithardt | Medicina |
| 2006 | 11 de junho | Immanuel Wallerstein | Economia |
| 2006 | 4 de junho | Sven Erik Jorgensen | Ciências e Tecnologia |
| 2006 | 28 de abril | Josep Borrell Fontelles | Direito |
| 2005 | 3 de junho | Peter Floor | Arts and Humanities |
| 2005 | 3 de junho | Knud-Erik Sabroe | Psicologia e Ciências da Educação |
| 2005 | 3 de junho | Simon-Pierre Nothomb | Economia |
| 2005 | 3 de junho | António Savini | Ciências e Tecnologia |
| 2004 | 11 de julho | José Saramago | Arts and Humanities |
| 2004 | 30 de maio | Seamus Heaney | Arts and Humanities |
| 2004 | 9 de janeiro | Gerd Georg Heuss | Ciências e Tecnologia |
| 2003 | 30 de novembro | José Ángel García Rodríguez | Medicina |
| 2003 | 16 de novembro | Jacques Derrida | Arts and Humanities |
| 2003 | 3 de julho | José Carreras | Medicina |
| 2003 | 15 de junho | Pedro José Navascués Palacio | Arts and Humanities |
| 2002 | 15 de junho | Manuel Cecilio Díaz y Díaz | Arts and Humanities |
| 2002 | 25 de maio | Manuel Jacinto Nunes | Economia |
| 2001 | 17 de novembro | Fernando de La Rua | Direito |
| 2001 | 24 de junho | Dário Olivieri | Medicina |
| 2001 | 3 de junho | Povl Ole Fanger | Ciências e Tecnologia |
| 2001 | 27 de maio | Harold Bloom | Arts and Humanities |
| 2001 | 18 de fevereiro | Fernando Aguiar Branco | Arts and Humanities |
| 2000 | 19 de novembro | Arthur Lee-Francis Askins | Arts and Humanities |
| 2000 | 19 de novembro | Evanildo Cavalcante Bechara | Arts and Humanities |
| 2000 | 5 de novembro | Luis Concheiro Carro | Medicina |
| 2000 | 9 de julho | Manuel Sanchez Salorio | Medicina |
| 2000 | 8 de junho | António Manuel Monteiro | Direito |
| 2000 | 4 de junho | Alain Guilbert | Medicina |
| 2000 | 4 de junho | Jacques Baudet | Medicina |
DATE |
|
NAME |
FIELD |
| 1999 | 25th June | Caio Mário da Silva Pereira | Law |
| 1999 | 25th June | Fábio Konder Comparato | Law |
| 1999 | 25th June | Galeno Velhinho de Lacerd | Law |
| 1999 | 25th June | Luiz Pinto Ferreira | Law |
| 1999 | 25th June | Vicente Marotta Rangel | Law |
| 1999 | 30th May | Henrique Walter Pinotti | Medicine |
| 1999 | 23rd April | Joaquim Alberto Chissano | Economics |
| 1998 | 13th December | António Simões Lopes | Economics |
| 1998 | 25th October | Angel Cabo Alonso | Arts and Humanities |
| 1998 | 25th October | Suzanne Daveau | Arts and Humanities |
| 1997 | 23rd November | Álvaro Siza Vieira | Sciences and Technology |
| 1997 | 23rd November | Brian Scarlett | Sciences and Technology |
| 1997 | 16th March | William Fisher Enneking | Medicine |
| 1997 | 19th January | Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares | Law |
| 1996 | 30th December | Maria de Nazareth Lobato Guimarães | Law |
| 1996 | 24th November | Marc Richelle | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 1996 | 24th November | Jacques Montanegro | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 1996 | 21st April | Eduardo Lourenço de Faria | Arts and Humanities |
| 1996 | 10th March | Henri Bismuth | Medicine |
| 1996 | 25th February | José María Carrera Macià | Medicine |
| 1996 | 25th February | Santiago Dexeus i Trias de Bes | Medicine |
| 1995 | 21st July | Fernando Henrique Cardoso | Economics |
| 1995 | 22nd January | Morton Falk Goldberg | Medicine |
| 1994 | 27th November | Georges Charpak | Sciences and Technology |
| 1993 | 24th October | Gladstone Chaves de Melo | Arts and Humanities |
| 1993 | 24th October | Vergílio Ferreira | Arts and Humanities |
| 1993 | 27th June | Fernando Távora | Sciences and Technology |
| 1993 | 25th April | Albert Hirschman | Economics |
| 1993 | 14th March | John Norman Murrel | Sciences and Technology |
| 1992 | 3rd May | Bärbel Inhelder | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 1992 | 30th April | Jacques Delors | Economics |
| 1992 | 15th March | Arthur Gille | Psychology and Educational Sciences |
| 1991 | 29th November | Giovanni Spadolini | Arts and Humanities |
| 1991 | 26th May | Albert Silbert | Arts and Humanities |
| 1991 | 19th May | Claus Roxin | Law |
| 1990 | 25th November | Alaistair Ian Scott | Pharmacy |
| 1990 | 15th July | Jacques Chrétien | Medicine |
| 1990 | 4th July | Florestan Fernandes | Economics |
| 1990 | 29th March | Richard von Weizsäcker | Law |
DATE |
|
NAME |
FIELD |
| 1989 | 5th December | Aristides Pereira | Economics |
| 1989 | 18th June | Jean Civatte | Medicine |
| 1989 | 17th May | Don Juan Carlos I | Law |
| 1989 | 23rd April | Alonzo Zamora Vicente | Arts and Humanities |
| 1989 | 23rd April | Charles Verlinden | Arts and Humanities |
| 1989 | 23rd April | Ernesto Guerra da Cal | Arts and Humanities |
| 1988 | 15th May | Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls | Sciences and Technology |
| 1988 | 10th April | Maurice Edmond Muller | Medicine |
| 1987 | 29th April | Javier Pérez de Cuellar | Law |
| 1987 | 15th February | John Hamilton Reynolds | Sciences and Technology |
| 1986 | 7th May | José Sarney | Law |
| 1985 | 30th January | Tancredo de Almeida Neves | Law |
| 1984 | 14th October | André Lichnerowicz | Sciences and Technology |
| 1984 | 1st July | Macário Santiago Kastner | Arts and Humanities |
| 1984 | 1st July | Orlando da Cunha Ribeiro | Arts and Humanities |
| 1983 | 11th December | Álvaro D’Ors | Law |
| 1983 | 30th October | Pierre Albert Netter | Medicine |
| 1983 | 19th June | Sir George Porter | Sciences and Technology |
| 1983 | 17th April | Robert Etienne | Arts and Humanities |
| 1982 | 28th November | Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini | Medicine |
| 1982 | 28th November | Luiz V. Decourt | Medicine |
| 1982 | 14th November | Hans-Heinrich Jescheck | Law |
| 1982 | 14th November | Henri Batiffol | Law |
| 1982 | 14th November | Jean Carbonnier | Law |
| 1982 | 30th May | Alfredo Buzaid | Law |
| 1982 | 30th May | Heleno Claudio Fragoso | Law |
| 1982 | 30th May | Miguel Reale | Law |
| 1982 | 30th May | Orlando Gomes | Law |
| 1982 | 25th May | Amintore Fanfani | Law |
| 1981 | 13th December | Artur Anselmo Fernandes de Castro | Law |
| 1981 | 21st June | Wilhelm Wengler | Law |
| 1980 | 17th July | Karl Carstens | Law |
DATE |
|
NAME |
FIELD |
| 1973 | 21st November | Laureano Lopez Rodó | Law |
| 1971 | 2nd May | Derek Harold Richard Barton | Sciences and Technology |
| 1969 | 16th March | Reijer Hooykaas | Sciences and Technology |
| 1968 | 30th June | Giacinto Manupella | Arts and Humanities |
| 1968 | 30th June | Rui Pinto de Azevedo | Arts and Humanities |
| 1968 | 27th October | Kurt-Georg Kiesinger | Law |
| 1967 | 4th June | Luis António da Gama e Silva | Law |
| 1967 | 14th May | Guilhermino César da Silva | Arts and Humanities |
| 1966 | 16th October | Isidor Isaac Rabi | Sciences and Technology |
| 1966 | 16th October | Louis Néel | Sciences and Technology |
| 1966 | 1st May | Hilário Veiga de Carvalho | Medicine |
| 1966 | 20th March | José Sebastião da Silva Dias | Arts and Humanities |
| 1964 | 24th May | Roderick William Horston | Arts and Humanities |
| 1964 | 3rd May | Michael Alan Morton | Sciences and Technology |
| 1962 | 18th November | Gilberto de Mello Freyre | Arts and Humanities |
| 1962 | 4th November | Arthur Wallis Exell | Sciences and Technology |
| 1962 | 21st January | José Henrique de Azeredo Perdigão | Law |
| 1961 | 28th May | João Manuel Pacheco de Figueiredo | Medicine |
| 1961 | 14th May | Ludwig Ehrard | Law |
| 1961 | 23rd April | Armando de Freitas Zuzarte Cortesão | Sciences and Technology |
| 1960 | 8th August | Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira | Law |
| 1960 | 10th July | Richard Pattee | Arts and Humanities |
| 1960 | 13th March | Carlos Chagas | Medicine |
| 1959 | 21st October | Gregorio Marañón | Medicine |
| 1959 | 28th April | António de Oliveira Salazar | Arts and Humanities |
| 1958 | 11th May | Giorgio Del Vecchio | Law |
| 1958 | 6th March | Francisco Gentil | Medicine |
| 1957 | 15th May | Edgard Santos | Medicine |
| 1956 | 19th October | Eugéne Tisserant | Arts and Humanities |
| 1955 | 10th July | John Cockcroft | Sciences and Technology |
| 1955 | 24th April | João Café Filho | Law |
| 1955 | 6th March | Júlio Dantas | Arts and Humanities |
| 1954 | 17th January | François Jean Perroux | Law |
| 1952 | 8th June | Pedro Calmon | Arts and Humanities |
| 1952 | 9th May | Ernesto de Morais Leme | Law |
| 1951 | 15th April | Emile Planchard | Arts and Humanities |
| 1951 | 15th April | Joseph Maria Piel | Arts and Humanities |
| 1951 | 15th April | Pierre David | Arts and Humanities |
| 1951 | 8th April | Clarence Crafoord | Medicine |
| 1951 | 11th March | Ernst Matthes | Sciences and Technology |
| 1949 | 5th October | Francisco Franco Bahamonde | Law |
| 1946 | 31st March | Michel Mosinger | Medicine |
| 1945 | 2nd April | William James Entwistle | Arts and Humanities |
| 1945 | 15th April | Luis Legaz y Lacambra | Law |
| 1942 | 8th May | Fernando Augusto Carvalho | Law |
| 1939 | 29th January | Júlio Afrânio Peixoto | Medicine |
| 1937 | 8th December | Leonardo de La Pena Sanchez | Medicine |
| 1935 | 3rd November | Lucien-Marie Pautrier | Medicine |
| 1934 | 3rd June | Antero Frederico de Seabra | Sciences and Technology |
| 1932 | 13th March | René Leriche | Medicine |
| 1921 | 15th April | Marechal Joseph-Jacques Joffre | |
| 1921 | 15th April | Generalíssimo Armando Diaz | |
| 1921 | 15th April | General Smith Dorrien |