Agostinho Neto was the first President of the People’s Republic of Angola and a prominent writer
Agostinho Neto
@Former President of Angola, Birthday and Childhood
Sep 17, 1922
Biography
Personal Details
- Birthday: September 17, 1922
- Died on: September 10, 1979
- Nationality: Angolan
- Famous: Former President of Angola, Leaders, Political Leaders, Revolutionaries
- Spouses: Maria da Silva
- Known as: Dr. Agostinho Neto
- Universities:
- University of Lisbon
Agostinho Neto born at
Ícolo e Bengo
Unsplash
Birth Place
He married Maria Eugenia da Silva, a white Portuguese native, in 1958 upon completing his medical study. The couple had two children – son Mario Jorge Neto (1958) and daughter Irene Alexandra (1961).
Personal Life
In 1979, he went to Moscow to undergo treatment for pancreatic cancer and liver cirrhosis. However, he died during surgery on September 10, at the age of 56, just seven days ahead of his 57th birthday.
Personal Life
Angola celebrates his birthday as National Heroes Day and is a public holiday.
Personal Life
Antonio Agostinho Neto was born on September 17, 1922 in Icolo e Bengo, Bengo province, Angola, in a Methodist family to Agostinho Neto, a Methodist church pastor, and Mary d Silva Neto, a kindergarten teacher.
Childhood & Early Life
He completed his secondary education from Liceu Salvador Correia, Luanda, in 1944, and started working for Portuguese Colonial Health Service.
Childhood & Early Life
In 1947, he went to Portugal to study medicine, with specialization in gynecology, at the University of Lisbon and then at Coimbra, through a scholarship offered by a US Methodist Church.
Childhood & Early Life
While studying in Lisbon, he met and befriended other African students who later became politicians – Amilcar Cabral and Marcelino dos Santos, and got actively involved in political activities, though secretly.
Career
While opposing Prime Minister Salazar’s dictatorial rule in Portugal, he formed an African cultural society, Anti-Colonial Movement.
Career
He released his first set of poems in 1948, soon after which he was arrested by PIDE for his protests against the Portuguese rule over Angola, on three occasions, and later imprisoned for seven years in 1951.
Career
He joined the newly formed Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), from the merger of Angolan Communist Party (PCA) and Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUA), in 1956.
Career
He was released in 1958 and completed his medical studies. Upon graduating, he returned to Angola in 1959, where he opened a private medical center.
Career
He joined the Angolan Liberation Movement, while still in exile, and became the President of Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in 1962.
Major Works
He became the first president of independent Angola in 1975, after his party MPLA succeeded in defeating the other two political parties and established a one-party state.
Major Works