Son of José Alexandrino Teixeira da Costa (1910-1977) and wife Maria Elisa Bessa de Lima [de] Amorim Pinto (1913-1997), has three brothers and two sisters: José Eduardo (b. 1934), Maria Alice (b. 1935), António Manuel (b. 1936), Maria Eduarda (b. 1939) and Eduardo Honório (b. 1941).