Angola Commemorates the Father of National Independence
Today, 17 September, marks the Day of the Founder of the Nation and National Hero, a date dedicated to honouring António Agostinho Neto, the first President of independent Angola and a central figure in the country's liberation struggle.
The commemoration keeps at the forefront of the collective memory a figure whose legacy extends beyond political leadership to medicine, literature, culture and the construction of national identity.
Born on 17 September 1922 in Kaxicane, Icolo e Bengo Province, Agostinho Neto was a doctor, poet and statesman.
His memory remains inseparable from the most significant milestone in Angola's history, National Independence, achieved on 11 November 1975.
The occasion invites reflection on the collective journey of the Angolan people and on the legacy of the leader who transformed the dream of freedom into reality.
Born into a Protestant family, Agostinho Neto grew up under the influence of an education shaped by moral discipline and social awareness.
The son of a teacher and catechist, he was exposed from an early age to realities of exclusion and injustice that would later shape his worldview.
His time in Portugal, where he studied Medicine, proved decisive in his political development.
In Lisbon, he joined circles of African students who questioned Portuguese colonial rule and aspired to free and sovereign societies.
He was persecuted, detained and monitored by PIDE, the colonial political police, but never abandoned his conviction that Angola's independence was inevitable.
Alongside his academic studies and political engagement, Agostinho Neto established himself as a poet of resistance.
Works such as Sagrada Esperança expressed, through powerful and mobilising verse, the suffering, dignity and hope of the Angolan people.
His poetry was not merely a literary exercise but also a political manifesto, a cultural banner and a symbolic weapon.
The poet gave voice to millions of Angolans silenced by colonialism, reinforcing the conviction that the struggle was both just and unavoidable.
Leadership in the liberation struggle
In 1963, Neto became president of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
The movement expanded and consolidated internal mobilisation networks and external alliances during a period of intensified colonial repression.
The armed struggle, which began on 4 February 1961, marked a turning point, although it was characterised by divisions among the principal nationalist movements.
Under Neto's leadership, the MPLA distinguished itself through its ability to combine military action with diplomatic engagement.
His skills as a statesman became evident on the international stage, where he built relations with progressive countries and members of the socialist bloc, particularly the former Soviet Union and Cuba, whose support was instrumental in the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule and later in resisting external interference.
The Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 in Portugal opened an irreversible path towards the independence of the African colonies. Agostinho Neto recognised the significance of the moment and positioned the MPLA as a legitimate force in guiding the process.
Despite armed confrontations with the FNLA and UNITA, and interference from foreign powers seeking to influence Angola's future, Neto remained steadfast in his priority of securing full independence.
The Alvor Agreement, signed in January 1975, formalised Portugal's decision to leave Angola, but it was in Luanda on 11 November that Agostinho Neto, before the national flag raised for the first time, proclaimed: "We solemnly declare before Africa and the World the Independence of Angola."
As President from 1975 to 1979, Neto faced immense challenges, including building a state amid civil war, reorganising an economy weakened by colonial rule and promoting national unity.
Despite these difficulties, he laid the foundations for key sectors such as education and healthcare, while maintaining Angola as a strong supporter of anti-colonial struggles in Africa, backing movements such as SWAPO in Namibia, the ANC in South Africa and ZANU in Zimbabwe.
Agostinho Neto died in Moscow on 10 September 1979, before many of his ambitions for Angola could be realised.
However, his legacy endures through his determination to confront colonial rule, his defence of sovereignty and his vision of a country founded on the dignity of its people.
Today, as Angola marks National Hero Day, the nation remembers the man who, though a doctor and poet, chose above all to be a liberator.
His life and work stand as testimony that independence was achieved through incalculable sacrifices, but also through the unwavering power of hope. ART/IZ/DOJ
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