People's Republic of Angola National Heroes' Day Marks on September 17th the birthday of the national hero Agostinho Netowho was born on this day in 1922.
In the 1950s, while other European governments began to withdraw from their African colonies, Portugal, led by tyrant António Salazar, doubled down on its territory, planned industrialisation to extract as much riches as possible.
This colonial attitude outraged many young Africans, including António Agostinho Neto, a doctor who was active in (and imprisoned for) political activity against the Salazar dictatorship.
After two years in jail in Cape Verde and Portugal, Neto fled to Morocco and joined the Angolan freedom struggle. In 1962, he became the head of Angola's Popular Liberation Movement (MPLA).
As president of the MPLA, he was a symbol of the long and brutal battle to break free from Portuguese colonial control.
When the People's Republic of Angola obtained independence from Portugal in November 1975, he became the country's first president and served until his death on September 10, 1979.
His obituary in the Times of London described him as "a man of outstanding intellectual abilities who took advantage of the opportunities offered by colonial authorities to emerge as their principal opponent."
