The centenary of Agostinho Neto was celebrated 43 years after his death.
The first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, died 7 days before his 67th birthday, on September 10, 1979, in Moscow, in the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), after undergoing surgery. 43 years later, in the year 2022, on September 17th, 100 years have passed since his birth.
António Agostinho Neto, was an Angolan doctor, politician and poet. He was president of the MPLA (1962-1979) and the 1st President of Angola (1975-1979). His thinking, convictions and political action decisively marked the history of Angola, before and after independence.
Agostinho Neto belongs to the group of those who, in the midst of the “cold war”, made history in the “hot” period of the anti-colonial liberation struggles in Africa. The official Centenary celebrations, which have already begun and will continue throughout 2022, could be an opportunity to get to know the man and the politician better and reflect on their historical legacy.
Your life
Due to his tenacity and active participation in student movements, he was arrested several times by the PIDE (Portuguese Political Police), giving rise to international solidarity campaigns for his release. International influence grows in the 60's and participates in different conferences.
He was born at five o'clock on September 17, 1922, in the village of Kaxicane, parish of S. José, municipality of Icolo e Bengo, in the district of Luanda, the son of evangelist pastor Agostinho Pedro Neto and primary school teacher Maria da Silva Neto .
In 1930, he accompanied his parents in moving to Luanda and in 1933 he finished his primary education, which was given to him by his parents, having been approved with distinction. And in 1934, he enrolled, on February 14, at Liceu Salvador Correia (today called Magisterium Mutu ya Kevela).
In 1936, he gives the first public prayer, during a funeral ceremony in honor of the Methodist missionary Robert Shields, organized by evangelists in the African National League.
And in 1938, he was awarded the 1st prize in a poetry competition promoted by the Portuguese Lusitana Church. In the newspaper O Estudante, an organ for students at Liceu Salvador Correia, it publishes an article entitled “Heroes”, in which it refers to the heroes of good and evil and criticizes the despots, urging colleagues to solidarity.
In 1942, he began to collaborate in the newspapers O Estandarte, of the Igreja Metodista, and O Farolim. He founded, in 1943, the Evangelical Center for Angolan Youth (CEJA), with the aim of supporting primary school students with learning difficulties, especially in the Portuguese language.
He is part of the editorial staff of O Estudante. With high classification, he concluded, in January 1944, the high school course, a course that he suspended for three academic years, in order to, by the parents' wishes, accompany his older brother who had been late in his studies.
He went to live for six months with his parents in the region of Piri, Dembos, where the peasants inspired him with some poems that he would later destroy, considering them incipient. Through a competition, he joins the administrative staff of the Health and Hygiene Services of Angola, being placed in Malanje.
the years of power
1974
In February, the English version of his poetry book A Sagrada Esperança is published in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania, translated by Marga Holness. Following the revolutionary coup of April 25th in Portugal and the recognition, by the new Portuguese regime, of the colonies' right to independence, in October a ceasefire was signed in Lunhameje, Moxico.
1975
On 5 January, in Nakuru, Kenya, he signs an agreement in principle between the MPLA, the FNLA and UNITA, for the establishment of joint talks with the Portuguese Government. He travels to Portugal, where he signs, on 15 January, the Alvor Accords, signed by the MPLA, FNLA and UNITA, as well as by representatives of the Portuguese provisional government.
On February 4, he returned to Luanda, where he received a triumphant popular welcome, unprecedented in the history of Angola.
In August, the transitional government disbanded and the three movements settled in their areas of influence, MPLA in Luanda, FNLA in the North, with the support of Zairean forces, and UNITA in the South, supported by the South Africans, by the which launches the slogan "Generalized Popular Resistance".
On 11 November, with the power of the MPLA practically confined to Luanda, where the decisive battle of Kifangondo was being fought 30 km away, he proclaimed National Independence, being invested with the position of President of the People's Republic of Angola.
1976
Thanks to the support it requested and received from socialist countries, especially from Cuban fighters and from Soviet advisers and material, MPLA forces reached the Zaire River in February and the Cunene River in March, defeating the FNLA and UNITA armies and expelling the Zairean and South African invaders, and therefore orders the celebration of the «Carnaval da Vitória».
It participates in the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement, in Sri Lanka, and in the Summit of Frontline Countries, in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
Takes office as President of the General Assembly of the Union of Angolan Writers (UEA). He chairs the VI Conference of Afro-Asian Writers, in Luanda. On April 25, he receives the Gold Medal of the City of Belgrade, the highest award of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
On the 27th of April, he receives the Grand Ribbon of the Order of Merit, awarded by the People's Republic of Poland. On April 28, he received the Joliot Curie Gold Medal from the World Peace Council. On 1 May, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded him the Lenin International Prize.
In June, he receives the Dimitrof Prize, awarded by the Council of State of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. In July, he visited Havana and received the Gold Medal of the Playa Giron Order, awarded by the Council of State of the Socialist Republic of Cuba. On August 1, he proclaims the FAPLA-Popular Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola.
1977
On May 27, it faces the biggest crisis in the history of independent Angola, with the coup d'état triggered by a faction of the MPLA led by Nito Alves, known as Fraccionismo, a situation that generates a bloodbath with deep repercussions in all sectors of the Angolan society.
In December, he was awarded the title of National Hero by the 1st Congress of the MPLA, when the movement became the Labor Party.
1978
Proclaims the "Year of Agriculture". On January 19, he is awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He receives, in Luanda, the secretary general of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim, as well as several leaders of parties and presidents of African countries. Receives, in Luanda, the Cuban President, Fidel Castro.
On the 25th and 26th of June, he met in Bissau with the President of the Portuguese Republic, General Ramalho Eanes, with the aim of regularizing relations between Angola and Portugal. He is taking part, in Khartoum, in the 15th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in which Angola is admitted as a member.
On 20 August, with the aim of putting an end to hostilities on the northern border of Angola, he met President Mobutu in Kinshasa, receiving him later in Luanda on 15 October. On 30 September, he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the People's Republic of Mozambique.
1979
Proclaims the “Year of Cadre Training”. On 8 January, he presided over the swearing in of the leaders of the Union of Angolan Writers. On 4 February, he was awarded the Medal «17 de Novembro» by the International Union of Students. He presides over the closing of the VI Conference of Afro-Asian Writers, held from June 26th to July 3rd.
In Uíge, on 22 August, he delivered his last speech, in which he regretted «it could not be longer because my voice was not clear, not very good». Emergency transferred to Moscow to undergo surgery, he died on 10 September.
Create with dry eyes
Agostinho Neto's poetic creation places him among the poets who put their creations at the service of the cause of the people's liberation. Having achieved the country's independence and today, it appears that his poetry remains absolutely current, which says everything about its timelessness and universality.
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Picture: © Tchiweka Association
