Joao Carlos Saldanha Oliveira E Daun, duke of, a Portuguese statesman, born in Lisbon, Nov. 17, 1791. His mother was a daughter of Pombal. He studied at Coimbra, and at an early age was a member of the council of administration for the colonies. In 1810 he was sent to England as a prisoner, and subsequently went to Brazil, where he served in the army and as a diplomatist. Having returned to Portugal, he was appointed minister of foreign affairs in 1825 by John VI., after whose death in 1826 he became governor of Oporto, and under the constitution of Dom Pedro minister of war, till June, 1827, when he resigned and went to England. Dom Miguel having usurped power, Saldanha raised troops against him, but they abandoned him. In 1832 he landed in Portugal with Dom Pedro, and became commandant of Oporto, and subsequently marshal and generalissimo. Aided by the duke of Ter-ceira, he terminated the war by taking the capital, and compelling the capitulation of Dom Miguel at Evora. In 1835 he became minister of war and president of the council; but he resigned in November of the same year and lived abroad from 1836 to 1846, when he was recalled by the queen to form a ministry. In 1849 he was overthrown by Costa-Cabral, who offered him a place in his ministry, which he refused.

In 1851 Saldanha effected a new revolution, and was again at the head of the government till the accession of Pedro V. in 1856. He was minister in Rome from 1862 to 1864, and again from 1866 to 1869. On May 19, 1870, he instigated a revolution in the royal palace, in consequence of which the king was compelled to place him once more at the head of the cabinet; but the new elections went against him, and he was succeeded on Aug. 30 by Sa da Bandeira.