Agostinho Neto

Author Agostinho Neto's poetic works were written chiefly between 1946 and 1960, largely in Portugal. He published three books of poetry during his lifetime. Several of his poems became national anthems. Poems included collections like Sacred Hope, which was published in 1974 (Titled Dry Eyes in the Portuguese Version). He was also the first member voted into the Anglo Writers Union and The Center for African Studies in Lisbon. He was later awarded the Lotus Prize presented by the Conference of Afro-Asian Writers.

Death Agostinho Neto died on 10 September 1979 in Moscow after travelling to the Soviet Union to undergo surgery for cancer and hepatitis. He was a week shy of his 57th birthday at the time of his death. Neto had a long battle with pancreatic cancer, as well as chronic hepatitis that ultimately took his life. Neto had been to the Soviet Union multiple times for treatment because of the high level of medical professionals there. Few people knew about his failing health because he and his colleagues thought it was better to hide this information, as to not show weakness.

Legacy The Mausoleum of António Agostinho Neto in LuandaThe Soviet Union awarded Neto the Lenin Peace Prize for 1975–76.

The public university of Luanda, the Agostinho Neto University, is named after him. A poem by Chinua Achebe entitled "Agostinho Neto" was written in his honour. An airport in Santo Antão, Cape Verde, is named after him, due to the beloved work he performed there as a doctor. For the same reason, the main hospital of Cape Verde in the capital Praia is named "Hospital Agostinho Neto" (HAN). There is also a morna dedicated to him. A street in New Belgrade in Serbia is named after him, the Dr Agostina Neta street.

A street in Ghana (Agostinho Neto Road), which can be found in Airport City in the capital, is named after him.

On 17–19 July 1973, The Congress was held at The July Plenum in Sofia organised by the Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov, and also attended by Neto who at the time stayed in Hotel Rila. During that period he had a brief relationship with a Bulgarian woman with whom he had met earlier in the same year on 17 February and they had a daughter Mihaela. A DNA test performed in 2013 concluded with 95% confidence that she is Neto's daughter.

Foreign honours

Recipient of the Royal Order of Munhumutapa