Pepetela

Who is Pepetela?

Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos, known by his nom de guerre Pepetela (meaning "eyelash" in Umbundu), was born in Benguela, Angola, in 1941. He began engineering studies in Lisbon before shifting to sociology in Algiers, where he was recruited to help found a Center for Angolan Studies. He joined the armed independence struggle of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the Cabinda region and on the Eastern Front. After Angola's independence in 1975 he served as Vice-Minister of Education under President Agostinho Neto, stepping down in 1982 to focus on teaching and writing, and has taught sociology at Agostinho Neto University in Luanda since 1984. Author of more than fifteen novels, including Mayombe, Yaka, and A Geração da Utopia, he became the first Angolan writer to win the prestigious Camões Prize, the highest literary honor in the Portuguese-speaking world, in 1997, for fiction exploring Angola's colonial and post-independence history.

Sources: "Pepetela," The African Literature Association, Fonlon-Nichols Award profile, 2015 · Livraria Lello, "Pepetela," Author of the Month profile · Wikipedia, "Pepetela"