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Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo (30 April 1926 – 9 March 2010), known as Alda do Espírito Santo or Alda Graça, was a poet from
São Tomé e Príncipe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...
working in the
Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau ...
. She also served in the Santomean government after the country's independence.


Life and career

She was born in
São Tomé e Príncipe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...
, the former Portuguese territory off the coast of West Africa, to João Graça do Espírito Santo and Maria de Jesus Agostinho das Neves. The family was prominent in
São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Ál ...
city. After primary school, she attended secondary school in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
. In 1948 Alda da Graça began studying in Lisbon to become a primary school teacher. While in Lisbon, Alda da Graça met students from other Portuguese colonies and joined a student association called the
Casa dos Estudantes do Império The Casa dos Estudantes do Império (Portuguese for ''House of Students of the Empire'') was a common home where Portuguese, Angolan, Cape Verdean and Mozambican students—and possibly Goan too—who stood up for the interests of the Portuguese col ...
. In 1951, she founded Centro de Estudos Africanos with other students interested in nationalism, including
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 Sor ...
and
Agostinho Neto António Agostinho da Silva Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) ...
of
Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...
,
Noémia de Sousa Carolina Noémia Abranches de Sousa Soares, known as Noémia de Sousa (20 September 1926 – 4 December 2002),Anita De Melo"Noémia de Sousa" in ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: African Lusophone Writers''. was a poet from Mozambique who wrote i ...
and
Marcelino dos Santos Marcelino dos Santos (20 May 1929 – 11 February 2020) was a Mozambican poet, revolutionary, and politician. As a young man he travelled to Portugal, and France for an education. He was a founding member of the ''Frente de Libertação de Mo� ...
of
Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Mala ...
, and
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 fore ...
of
Guinea-Bissau 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 ), ...
. Alda da Graça returned to São Tomé in January 1953. She worked as a teacher and continued to be active in nationalist circles. In December 1965 she was arrested and imprisoned for several months by the Portuguese authorities as a result of her identification with the African liberation movement. Margaret Busby (ed.), "Alda do Espírito Santo", ''Daughters of Africa'', London: Jonathan Cape, 1992, p. 326. Since 1975, when São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence from
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
, she held several high offices in the government, including as Minister of Education and Culture, Minister of Information and Culture, President of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
, and General Secretary of the National Union of Writers and Artists of São Tomé and Príncipe. She was also the author of the lyrics to the national anthem, "
Independência total "" is the national anthem of São Tomé and Príncipe. The anthem, adopted in 1975, was written by Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo (30 April 1926 – 9 March 2010), known as Alda do Espírito Santo ...
". Her published work includes ''O Jorgal das Ilhas'' (1976) and ''O Nosso o Solo Sagrado de Terra'' (1978). Her poem "The Same Side of the Canoe" (translated by
Kathleen Weaver Kathleen Weaver (born 1945) is an American writer and editor, who was born in Sioux City, Iowa. Education Raised in Polo, Illinois, she went on to study art and political science at the University of Edinburgh. After, she earned a B.A. and M.A. ...
) is included in such anthologies as ''The Penguin Book of Women Poets'' (1987) and ''
Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...
'' (1992). In 2006, she wrote a preface to ''Retalhes do massacre de Batepá'', a book by Manuel Teles Neto Da Costa. She died aged 83 in hospital in
Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...
, Angola, on 10 March 2010, when five days of national mourning was declared by the government of São Tomé e Principe.


Works

* ''O Jornal das Ilhas'' (1976) * ''O Nosso o Solo Sagrado de Terra'' (1978) * ''Mataram o rio da minha cidade'' (2003) * ''Cantos do solo sagrado'' (2006) * ''O coral das ilhas'' (''Coral of the Islands'') (2006) * ''Mensagens do solo sagrado'' (2006) * ''Mensagens do canto do Ossobó '' (''Messages from the Songs of Ossobó'') (2008) * ''Tempo universal' (''Universal Time'') (2008) * ''O relógio do tempo'' (''The Clock of Time'') (2008)


References


Further reading

*Russell G. Hamilton, ''Voices from an Empire: a history of Afro-Portuguese literature'', Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1975, pp. 370–73} *Mario de Andrade, ''La poésie africaine d'expression portugaise: anthologie''; précédée de ''Évolution et tendances actuelles'', Paris: P.J. Oswald, 1969, p. 65 * Eugène Tavares, ''Littératures lusophones des archipels atlantiques: Açores, Madère, Cap-Vert, São Tomé e Príncipe'', Paris: L'Harmattan, 2009, p. 294,


External links


"Morreu Alda Graça do Espírito Santo"
Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo's obituary , '' Téla Nón'', 9 March 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graca do Espirito Santo, Alda Neves da 1926 births 2010 deaths Presidents of the National Assembly (São Tomé and Príncipe) National anthem writers People from São Tomé Government ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe women writers São Tomé and Príncipe poets São Tomé and Príncipe women poets 20th-century poets 21st-century poets 20th-century women writers 21st-century women writers Women government ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe 20th-century women politicians Women legislative speakers 20th-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians