Angolan Communist Party (in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Partido Comunista Angolano'') was an underground

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

(during the Estado Novo regime), founded in October 1955, under influence from the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portugue ...

. PCA was led by the brothers

Mário Pinto de Andrade Mário Coelho Pinto de Andrade (21 August 1928 – 26 August 1990) was an Angolan poet and politician. Biography He was born in Golungo Alto, in Portuguese Angola, and studied philosophy at the University of Lisbon and sociology at the Sorbon ...

and

Joaquim Pinto de Andrade Joaquim Pinto de Andrade (July 22, 1926 – February 23, 2008) served as the first honorary President of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Chancellor of the Luanda Archdiocese, and as a member of the African Society of Cult ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest). PCA set up clandestine schools and libraries in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, and established branches in Catete and

Malanje Malanje is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola, with a population of 455,000 (2014 census), and a municipality, with a population of 506,847 (2014 census). Projected to be the thirteenth fastest growing city on the African continent be ...

. In December 1956 it merged into the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social d ...

).Shantz, Jeff
"Angolan national liberation, 1961–1974."
Blackwell Reference Online. Retrieved 29 January 2011.

References

National liberation movements in Africa Rebel groups in Angola Political parties established in 1955 Political parties disestablished in 1956 Defunct political parties in Angola Communist parties in Angola MPLA 1955 establishments in Angola {{Angola-party-stub