Osvaldo Máximo Vieira (1938 – 31 March 1974) was a pioneer of the

Bissau-Guinean Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

independence movement and a key military commander during the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List o ...

. He was the cousin of

Nino Vieira Nino or Niño may refer to: *Nino (name) *Niño (name) *Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court justice whose nickname was "Nino" *El Niño, a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean *NINO, an abbreviation for National Insurance number in the ...

, who would later serve two separate terms as president. Vieira was one of many early recruits from the so-called "revolutionary petty bourgeoisie", a group which

Amílcar Cabral Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral (; – ) was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, pan-Africanist, intellectual, poet, theoretician, revolutionary, political organizer, nationalist and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremo ...

entrusted with instigating the war of independence. His father worked at the ''Sociedade Comercial Ultramarina'', while his grandfather had worked in the postal service, owned land, and was considered a "small intellectual". Before his revolutionary career, Vieira worked as a pharmacy assistant to

Sofia Pomba Guerra Sofia Pomba Guerra (1906 – 1976) was a Portuguese feminist and opponent of the ''Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo'' government in Portugal. She was active in the anti-colonial movements of Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. Early life Maria Sofia ...

, a white Portuguese feminist who was active in the burgeoning independence movements of Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. In 1961 he, along with nine other young PAIGC fighters, trained at the

Army Command College of the Chinese People's Liberation Army The Army Command College of the Chinese People's Liberation Army () is an educational institution administered by the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China, based in the city of Nanjing. It serves as a command academy that trai ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China. The

Osvaldo Vieira International Airport Osvaldo Vieira International Airport , also known as Bissau-Bissalanca Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, as well as the Metropolitan Region of Bissau. It is the only international ai ...

in Bissau is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vieira, Osvaldo 1938 births 1974 deaths African and Black nationalists African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde politicians African revolutionaries Bissau-Guinean military personnel Bissau-Guinean pan-Africanists