Agostino Neto
| Agostinho Neto | |
|---|---|
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| 1st President of Angola | |
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In office 11 November 1975 – 10 September 1979 |
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| Prime Minister | Lopo do Nascimento (1975-1978) |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | José Eduardo dos Santos |
| Chairman of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola | |
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In office 10 December 1956 – 10 September 1979 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | José Eduardo dos Santos |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
António Agostinho Neto 17 September 1922 Ícolo e Bengo, Portuguese Angola |
| Died | 10 September 1979 (aged 56) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Political party | MPLA |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Eugénia da Silva |
| Children | Mario Irene |
| Alma mater | University of Lisbon |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) served as the 1st President of Angola (1975–1979), having led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the war for independence (1961–1974). Until his death, he led the MPLA in the civil war (1975–2002). Known also for his literary activities, he is considered Angola's preeminent poet. His birthday is celebrated as National Heroes' Day, a public holiday in Angola.
Born at Ícolo e Bengo, in Bengo Province, Angola, in 1922, Neto attended high school in the capital city, Luanda; his parents were both school teachers and Methodists; his father, also called Agostinho Neto, was a Methodist pastor. After secondary school he worked in the colonial health services before going on to university. The younger Neto left Angola for Portugal, and studied medicine at the universities of Coimbra and Lisbon. He combined his academic life with covert political activity of a revolutionary sort; and PIDE, the security police force of the Estado Novo regime headed by Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar, arrested him in 1951 for three months for his separatist activism. He was arrested again in 1952 for joining the Portuguese Movement for Democratic Youth Unity. He was arrested again in 1955 and held until 1957. He finished his studies, marrying a white 23-year-old Portuguese woman who was born in Trás-os-Montes, Maria Eugénia da Silva, the same day he graduated. He returned to Angola in 1959, was arrested again in 1960, and escaped to assume leadership of the armed struggle against colonial rule. When Angola gained their independence in 1975 he became President and held the position until his death in 1979.
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