In 1564 Lope Martin, an Afro-Portuguese mariner, navigated the first round-trip voyage in the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Philippines and back to Mexico during the sixteenth-century Age of Exploration. Details about Martin’s parents or his childhood as a mulatto growing up in Lagos, … Read MoreLope Martin (1520?-?)
Afro-British musician, composer, and orchestra leader Joseph Antonio Emidy is believed to have been born sometime in the year 1775 in Guinea, West Africa. Enslaved at age 12, Portuguese traders brought him to Brazil, where Jesuit priests, recognizing his natural talent and intelligence, taught him … Read MoreJoseph Antonio Emidy (a.k.a. Joseph Emedy and Joseph Emedee, 1775-1835)
Jesuit priest, missionary, diplomat, orator, and theologian Antônio Vieira was born in Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, on February 6, 1608, the first of the four sons of Maria de Azevedo, a mulatto woman and civil servant Cristóvão Vieira Ravasco. At age six, when … Read MoreAntônio Vieira (1608-1697)
Popularly known as JBJ, Jorge Lopes Bom Jesus is the 17th and current Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe. He was born in Conceição, Água Grande district, in São Tomé and Príncipe, the youngest of three brothers. Bom Jesus received his primary and secondary education in Sao … Read MoreJorge Lopes Bom Jesus (1962- )
The first president of independent Guinea Bissau was Luis Severino de Almeida Cabral who was born on April 10, 1933, in the city of Bissau in what was then Portuguese Guinea. His parents were from the Portuguese colony of Cape Verde which consisted of several … Read MoreLuis Cabral (1931-2009)
Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embaló has been serving as the President of Guinea-Bissau since February 27, 2020. Embaló was born on September 23, 1972, in the capital city of Bissau. Ethnically his family is a part of the Fulani people. He has a BA in international … Read MoreUmaro Embaló
(1972- )
Ricardo Paulo Chibanga is recognized as the world’s first documented African bullfighter. He was born on November 8, 1942, in Lourenço Marques (present day Maputo), the capital of Mozambique where his father operated a pastry shop to support his family of seven children. At nine … Read MoreRicardo Paulo Chibanga (1942-2019)
The first president of Sao Tome and Principe, two islands in the Gulf of Guinea, was Manuel Pinto da Costa. He was born in Agua Grande on Sao Tome Island on August 5, 1937. At that time Sao Tome and Principe was a Portuguese colony. … Read MoreManuel Pinto da Costa
(1937- )
Antonio Agostinho Neto, fondly honored by Angolans as the “Father of Modern Angola” served as the first president of independent Angola. Not only was he a remarkable politician, but Neto was also a noted physician and famous poet. Antonio Agostinho Neto was born on September … Read MoreAgostinho Neto (1922-1979)
Graca Simbine Machel is a former freedom fighter, prominent educator, philanthropist, and the only woman in modern times to be first lady of two nations, Mozambique and South Africa. Graca Simbine was born on Oct. 17, 1945 at Incadine, Gaza Province, Mozambique. Her father died … Read MoreGraca Machel (1945- )
