Viriato da Cruz

Viriato Clemente da Cruz (25 March 1928 – 13 June 1973) was an Angolan poet and politician, who was born in Kikuvo, Porto Amboim, Portuguese Angola, and died in Beijing, People's Republic of China. He is considered one of the most important Angolan poets of his time. He wrote poems in Portuguese and Angolan languages. He took part in the fight to free Angola from Portuguese rule.

Cruz was educated in Luanda, the capital of Angola, which was then ruled by Portugal. Between 1948 and 1952, Viriato da Cruz involved himself in Luanda's political and literary spheres, becoming part of the Association of the Native Sons of Angola. In 1948, he helped found the Movement of the New Intellectuals of Angola.

On September 30, 1957, Viriato da Cruz left for Lisbon, with the hopes of recruiting advice and support from the Partido Comunista Portugués (PCP). His call for help went unanswered by the PCP.

He was, however, successful in encouraging opposition to the colonial system among Angolans living in Lisbon. Afterwards, Viriato da Cruz went to Paris to link up with other Angolan and African immigrants. Among them was Mário Pinto de Andrade, another Angolan poet and politician, who helped with his political ideas. An important result of this meeting was the creation of the Anticolonial Movement, a unitarian and anticolonial collective consisting of all of the African nationalists in Europe, and the first of its kind. In 1956, Viriato da Cruz, as well as de Andrarde helped create the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA—from the Portuguese name Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola).

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