José Mendes de Carvalho (c. 1941 – April 14, 1968), known by his ''
nom de guerre'' Hoji-ya-Henda, was a
guerrilla fighter of the
People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola
The People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola ( pt, Forças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola) or FAPLA was originally the armed wing of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) but later (1975–1991) became Ango ...
(FAPLA). Now remembered as a
folk hero
A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; a ...
in Angola, he was killed during the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...
.
Mendes died in combat, at 27 years old, during a raid on the headquarters of the
Portuguese colonial army in
Karipande,
Moxico, Angola, on April 14, 1968. He was buried near the river
Lundoji from the then headquarters of Karipande, from the Front East of the Third Political-Military Region.
In August 1968, the People's Liberation Movement 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 dem ...
) assigned Hoji-ya-Henda the title of "dear son of the Angolan people and heroic fighter of the MPLA".
The First Assembly of the Third Political-Military Region of the MPLA, held on March 23, 1969, determined that April 14 would be celebrated in Angola as
Angolan Youth Day in his memory. The decision was later confirmed by an assembly of youth organisations, some of them affiliated to the National Youth Council (
CNJ) that gathered in
Cabinda for a number of years.
References
Notes
Web references
Peace treaties to AngolaJornal de Angola;Bibliography
* Tor Sellstrom, Liberation in Southern Africa - Regional and Swedish Voices: Interviews from Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Frontline and Sweden, ''Nordic Africa Institute'', 2002, , , 365 pag. - (pag. 28)
* Edward George, The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965-1991: From Che Guevara to Cuito Cuanavale, ''Routledge'', 2005, , , 354 pag. - (pag. 314)
* John A. Marcum, The Angolan Revolution: Vol. 2, Exile Politics and Guerrilla Warfare (1962–1976), Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London:: MIT Press, 1978, 473 pag.
* Roberto Correia, Angola - Datas e Factos - (5º Volume - 1961/1975), 2002, 376 pag.
* Paulo Miguel Júnior, José Mendes de Carvalho (Comandante Hoji Ya Henda) – Um testemunho à sua memória, 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoji-Ya-Henda
Angolan revolutionaries
1968 in Angola