Agostinho Neto

António Agostinho Neto (Ícolo e Bengo, 17 September 1922 - Moscow, 10 September 1979) was an Angolan doctor, writer and politician, the country's leading figure in the 20th century. He was President of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and in 1975 he became the first President of Angola until 1979. In 1975-1976 he was awarded the Lenine da Paz Prize. He was part of the generation of African students who would come to play a decisive role in the independence of their countries in what was designated as the Portuguese Colonial War. He was arrested by the International Police and Defense of the State (PIDE), the political police of the Salazarist regime then in force in Portugal, and deported to Tarrafal, a political prison in Cape Verde, after which he took up residence in Portugal, from where he fled. into exile. There he took over the leadership of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), of which he was already honorary president since 1962. In parallel, he developed a literary activity, writing poems in particular. On September 17, Angola celebrates the National Hero's Day, commemorating the day that Agostinho Neto was born.