Baltasar Lopes da Silva

Baltasar Lopes da Silva
Baltasar Lopes da Silva on a 500 Capeverdean escudo note issued between 1992 and 2000
Born	(1907-04-23)23 April 1907 Caleijão, São Nicolau
Died	28 May 1989(1989-05-28) (aged 82) Lisbon, Portugal
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Lusophone African philosophy; Independence Movement
Main interests	Ethics, Humanity, Justice, Love, Politics, philosophy

Baltasar Lopes da Silva (Caleijão, São Nicolau, 23 April 1907 - Lisbon, Portugal, 28 May 1989) was a writer, poet and linguist from Cape Verde, who wrote in both Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole. With Manuel Lopes and Jorge Barbosa, he was the founder of Claridade. In 1947 he published Chiquinho, considered the greatest Cape Verdean novel and O dialecto crioulo de Cabo Verde which describes different dialects of creoles of Cape Verde. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Osvaldo Alcântara.

Ressaca, his work of poems can be found on the CD Poesia de Cabo Verde e Sete Poemas de Sebastião da Gama by Afonso Dias.

Baltasar Lopes da Silva was born in the village of Calejão on the island of São Nicolau in Cape Verde on April 23, 1907. He attended the seminary in Ribeira Brava in his native island. He later headed to Portugal and studied at the University of Lisbon. When he was at Lisbon, Baltasar Lopes studied with the most important writers and authors of the Portuguese culture including Vitorino Nemésio and Luís da Câmara Reis. He graduated with degrees in Law and Romance Philology, he was one of the excellent students at the university. Afterwards, he returned to Cape Verde and was professor at Liceu Gil Eanes in Mindelo, São Vicente island, for a few years, he was also the lyceum's rector. He returned to Portugal again and educated in Leiria for a short time, during the difficulties of relationship with Portuguese politics that occurred that time, he returned to Cape Verde where he continued his education and advocacy. His last days were spent in Lisbon, where he was transferred for treatment of a cerebrovascular disease and died shortly afterwards on May 28, 1989.