Wednesday 17 September National Heroes’ Day in Angola
In the 1950s, while other European countries were starting to retreat from their colonies in Africa, Portugal under the leadership of the dictator António Salazar, was doubling down on its territories, planning industrialisation to extract as much wealth as possible.
This colonial approach enraged many young Africans, such as António Agostinho Neto, a doctor who had been involved in (and imprisoned for) political activities against the Salazar regime.
After two years of detention in Cape Verde and Portugal, Neto escaped to Morocco where he joined the Angolan liberation movement. In 1962 he became president of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA).
As president of the MPLA, he was a figurehead for the protracted and violent struggle to break free from Portuguese colonial rule.
When the People’s Republic of Angola gained independence from Portugal in November 1975, he became the country’s first president serving until his death on September 10th 1979.
His obituary in the Times of London called him “a man of outstanding intellectual abilities who took advantage of the opportunities offered by the colonial authorities to emerge as their principal opponent.”
