November 2, 2022, Ceremonial meeting of the Academic Council of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Agushtinho Neto

On November 2, on the eve of the 47th anniversary of the independence of this African country, the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a ceremonial meeting of the Academic Council of the Institute for African Studies, dedicated to the centenary of Agushtinho Neto.

The meeting was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Angola to Russia Augusto da Silva Cunha, other representatives of the diplomatic corps of the Angola Embassy, as well as employees of the Institute for African Studies, diplomats, and scientists.

The solemn meeting opened with the performance of the national anthems of Angola and Russia. Director of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Doctor of Economics, Professor Irina Abramova delivered a welcoming speech in which she highly appreciated the role of Agushtinho Neto in the history of the country, in the development of Soviet-Angolan relations, which became the basis of modern Russian-Angolan cooperation; she also highlighted the role of the Institute for African Studies in bilateral relations.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Angola Augusto da Silva Cunha noted the "inextricable link" between the literary and political path of Agushtinho Neto. One of his main merits, the speaker emphasized, is cementing the peoples of Angola into a single nation, which is reflected in the slogan "From Cabinda to Kunene - one people, one nation."

The Angolan ambassador emphasized the deep historical roots of Soviet-/Russian-Angolan relations, the contribution of the USSR and its legal successor, Russia, to the development of Angola, and personnel training. The speaker also praised the merits of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, calling it "a center of excellence in studying the dynamics of development of various spheres of life in countries and the continent as a whole."

In conclusion, Augusto da Silva Cunha thanked the African Institute for "a journey into the world of memories of Agushtinho Neto" and presented the director of the Institute as a gift with the works of the first president of Angola and works about him collected by the embassy.

The audience listened with interest to the speech of the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Anatoly Khazanov, the author of the first monograph in our country about Agushtinho Neto. In the report, the scientist combined a brief biography of Agushtinho Neto, as a politician, with the biography of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), an organization that A. Neto led for many years until he died in 1979.

The genuine interest of the audience was aroused by the speech of the researcher of Angolan literature, translator of many works of Portuguese-speaking authors Varvara Makhortova, who accompanied her story about Agushtinho Neto the poet with a well-prepared presentation.

The atmosphere of warmth and informality of the meeting was also created by the recitation of poems by Agushtinho Neto. They were voiced in the speeches of the Ambassador of Angola, as well as Varvara Makhortova and senior researcher of the Institute, Candidate of Historical Sciences Boris Gorelik.

The head of the Centre for Southern African Studies, senior researcher of the Institute Andrey Tokarev, in his speech, congratulated the Angolan guests on the 47th anniversary of the independence of Angola, which is being celebrated the other day, and also introduced the audience to unique documents related to Agushtinho Neto: the issue of the Angolan newspaper " Diario de Luanda” dated November 11, 1975 (the day of the declaration of independence of Angola), a personal letter from Agushtinho Neto’s wife, Maria Eugenia Neto, and referee of the CC CPSU Pavel Evsyukov, who was responsible for the communication with MPLA, with a note by Agushtinho Neto Andrey Tokarev solemnly handed a copy of this letter to the ambassador.

After the completion of the Solemn meeting, a conversation took place in a narrow circle between the Director of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Abramova, and the Ambassador of Angola.

The topics of conversation were: the upcoming Russia-Africa summit in 2023, problems and prospects of Russian-Angolan relations, as well as other issues. The Ambassador thanked Irina Abramova for a very important, in his words, an event organized and conducted by the Institute, who spoke in favor of developing cooperation between the Angola Embassy and the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Andrey Tokarev, Senior Researcher, Head of the Centre for Southern African Studies, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences