André Vieira Dias Rodrigues Mingas Júnior, also known by his artistic name André Gasmin (24 May 1950 – 11 October 2011), was an Angolan musician, architect, urbanist, professor, and politician.

Biography

Mingas was born on 24 May 1950 in Luanda, the son of André "Mongone" Rodrigues Mingas and Antónia Diniz de Aniceto Vieira Dias. Some of his other siblings were also prominent figures in Angolan history, namely politician, singer, and composer of the Angolan national anthem

Ruy Mingas Ruy Alberto Vieira Dias Rodrigues Mingas (12 May 1939 – 4 January 2024) was an Angolan singer, songwriter, diplomat, businessman and politician. He was a deputy in the National Assembly, secretary with the status of Minister of Sports and amba ...

, linguist and teacher Amélia Mingas, athlete and administrator Júlia Rodrigues Mingas, police commander José "Zé" Rodrigues Mingas, and economist, writer, and politician Saíde Mingas. Having begun his direction towards music at an early age, he was strongly influenced by his uncle Liceu Vieira Dias and his brother Ruy. His first album was "Coisas da Vida", considered to be an important mark in Angolan popular music, mixing jazz, rock, and

semba Semba is a traditional type of music and dance from Angola. Semba has its roots in Massemba and means "a touch of belly buttons" - one of the most recognizable and entertaining movements in semba.History of Semba , Kizombalove Academy Chara ...

. Through this he also became a pioneer of the semba-jazz subgenre. Highlights of the album include "Esperança", "Mufete" e "Chipalepa". By the 1970s, he began associating with artists such as

Filipe Mukenga Francisco Felipe da Conceição Gumbe, known by his artistic name Filipe Mukenga (born 7 September 1949), is an Angolan singer and composer. He is famous for songs such as ''Humbi humbi'', ''Nvula'', and ''Hailwa Yange Oike Mbela''. Biography Muk ...

and

Waldemar Bastos Waldemar dos Santos Alonso de Almeida Bastos (January 4, 1954 – August 10, 2020) was an Angolan musician who combined Afropop, Portuguese (fado), and Brazilian influences. History He was born in the Portuguese Overseas Province of Angol ...

, both of whom strongly influenced him, primarily through the adoption of dissonance. After the independence of Angola, he became one of the founders of the Angolan Artists' Union. He graduated from

Agostinho Neto University The Agostinho Neto University () is the largest public university of Angola, based in Luanda and in the nearby city of Talatona, in Angola. In the academic year 2005–06, 68 licensing courses were ministered by the university: 18 in Bachel ...

with a degree in architecture and later earned a masters' degree in architecture and urbanism from the

Technical University of Lisbon The Technical University of Lisbon (UTL; , ) was a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of preexisting schools, and comprised the faculties and institutes of veterinary medicine; agricultural scienc ...

. In Portugal, he became a professor of architecture at the

Universidade Lusófona Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies) is the largest private university in Portugal. It is also the main institution of Grupo Lusófona, which administers other universities and ...

in Lisbon. After he returned to Angola, he became the vice-minister of Education and Culture, a period in which he organized the Society of Angolan Authors (SAA), the conglomeration of smaller and larger educational institutes in order to better sponsor contemporary art in Angola. As an architect, he was against the large-scale real estate speculation that affected the province of Luanda beginning in the 1990s, becoming an especially strong critic of the demolition of the old Quinaxixe Market. Despite this, he was assigned, in 2006, to lead the reevaluation of the structural integrity of buildings in various neighborhoods around Luanda, as well as becoming responsible for the expansion of the neighborhoods of

Talatona Talatona is a city and municipality in the Luanda Province, province of Luanda, bordering the Angolan capital, Luanda. It was designed by the Angolan government to reduce traffic in central Luanda; Its infrastructure was built in a location south ...

and Belas. On 12 October 2006, president

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...

named him as secretary of Local Subjects of the Presidency of Angola. He was later named the Angolan consul in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He was already in the city, but died before he could assume the position on 11 October 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mingas, André 1950 births 2011 deaths Musicians from Luanda Technical University of Lisbon alumni Agostinho Neto University alumni Angolan architects Semba singers Angolan educators 20th-century Angolan male singers 21st-century Angolan male singers 20th-century Angolan politicians 21st-century Angolan politicians Angolan diplomats Vieira Dias family