Africa-Press – Angola. The book “Os Bantu in the vision of Mafrano”, by the Angolan writer and ethnologist Maurício Francisco Caetano, is among the three best-selling works by the Editora Perfil Criativo stand, present at the 2022 edition of the Porto Book Fair, which runs until next day 11.
Posthumously released on the 14th of May, in the auditorium of the building of the Catholic University of Angola, in Largo das Escolas, in Luanda, the collection “Os Bantu in Mafrano’s vision” reproduces research carried out by the author on the ancestral life of the Bantu peoples, from more than five thousand years ago, bringing us reflections on the prehistory of African civilization.
The book has 212 pages and is prefaced by the Archbishop Emeritus of Lubango, Dom Zacarias Kamuenho, who considered the author as “the greatest anthropologist” in Angola.
In the opinion of the Archbishop of Luanda, Dom Filomeno Vieira Dias, “this book will help to understand the practices of the peoples of this region”.
In turn, the Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to Angola, Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari, wrote in this regard that “the book will be very useful for the knowledge of Angolan culture”.
Born in 1916 and died in 1982, the author is the son of Francisco João Caetano, a tailor, originally from Cambambe, and Mariana José Marcolino, a domestic worker, born in Dondo. He was born in Dondo, the land where he did his primary studies, later continuing his studies at the Seminary of Luanda where he studied Philosophy and Theology. He began his professional career as an administrative aspirant, reconciling his activity with teaching and promoting the cultural value of Angolan social anthropology.
He has published the books “Angolan Onomastics: Nzinga ou Nginga?” (1976); “Menino Luís Irmão de João Cassabalo”, edition of INALD (1986); “Idiomas Nacionais: Kimbundu” (1976); “Notes a Pencil”, chronicles scattered in newspapers and magazines, and “Crónicas Ligeiras”.
Inauguration of the fair
The 9th edition of the Porto Book Fair, which was inaugurated last Friday by the Portuguese Head of State, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, lasts for 17 days. It offers more than 100 activities, conversations, lessons, workshops, concerts, films and activities for babies, children and young people.
This year, the theme is poetry, with homages to the writers Ana Luísa Amaral and Manuel Gusmão in the program, and special attention to Brazilian literature, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence.
On the opening day of the fair, the President of Portugal, who has already assumed himself as an “eternal lover of books”, highlighted the “importance of reading” in the training of people.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took advantage of the opening day of the event, and bought books for the “eight-hour journey to Luanda”, where he attended, on Sunday, the funeral of former President José Eduardo dos Santos .
“It’s an eight-hour trip, it’s good to read”, he commented, as he walked through the stands accompanied by the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, still in Portuguese territory, but already thinking about Angola, spent more than 97 euros on the purchase of books about that country.
“Thank you very much for your support, Mr. President”, shot the bookseller who, until the last purchase, tried to convince him to take “another book”.
While visiting the event, in the gardens of Palácio de Cristal, the Portuguese head of state confided, among the many requests for `selfies´, that his passion for reading is “eternal”.
Considering himself a “passionate book collector”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa revealed that he had already sent more than 200,000 volumes to the library of Celorico de Bastos, his homeland, throughout his life.
“The objective is that others and not just me benefit from what is fundamental for the formation of all of us”, he stressed.
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