Mário Pinto de Andrade

Mário Pinto de Andrade

Mário Coelho Pinto de Andrade (August 21, 1928 – August 26, 1990) was an Angolan poet and politician.

He was born in Golungo-Alto, in Portuguese Angola, and studied philology at the University of Lisbon and sociology at the Sorbonne in Paris. While there, he became active in opposing Portuguese colonial rule of Angola, and wrote anti-colonial poetry.

In 1955 he took part in the founding of the Angolan Communist Party. In 1956 he was a founder member of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and was its President from 1960 to 1962. He clashed with his successor, Agostinho Neto, and in 1974 split with the MPLA, founding a new group called Revolta Activa (Active Revolt). Angola became independent on November 11, 1975, but Andrade continued to live in exile in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Mozambique. He died in London.