Amílcar Cabral

Amílcar Lopes Cabral (1924–January 20, 1973) was an African writer and nationalist. Born in Portuguese Guinea, son of Cape-Verdeans, he was educated in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal which was the colonial power that ruled over Portuguese Guinea at that time. While a student in Lisbon, he founded student movements dedicated to African nationalism. His half-brother was later head of state of Guinea-Bissau, Luís Cabral.

He returned to Africa in the 1950s, and began forming independence movements on the continent. He was instrumental in the formation of the PAIGC or Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (Portuguese: African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). He also worked to form a liberation party in Angola with Agostinho Neto.

Beginning in 1962, Cabral led the PAIGC in a military conflict against the Portuguese imperial forces. The goal of the conflict was to attain independence for both Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. Over the course of the conflict, the party won land gains, and Cabral was made the de facto leader of many parcels of land in Guinea-Bissau. In 1972, Cabral began to form a People's Assembly in preparation for an independent African nation, but a disgruntled former associate assassinated him in January of 1973 before he could see his work bear fruit. He was assassinated in Conakry.

External link

• "The Weapon of Theory", a speech at the Tricontinental Conference in Havana, 1966