António Urbano Monteiro de Castro

Journalist and poet. His date of birth profoundly marked the era, as did this author, who always identified as a liberal. At age 19, he accompanied his father on a trip to Luanda, returning deeply enthusiastic about Africa. He then enrolled in the Escola Politécnica. He later returned to Angola, and in 1858 practiced there as a licensed provisionary lawyer (advogado de provisão), competing with professional lawyers. His influence in that territory was so marked that he was even proposed as a deputy. He contributed to the following periodicals: A Civilização da África Portuguesa, Cruzeiro do Sul, União Portuguesa, and also Mercantil, always defending the interests of Portuguese residents in Angola. In Cruzeiro do Sul, in 1882, he published a series of articles that contributed greatly to the development of commerce in Dondo and the Kwanza region, earning him a gold pen studded with diamonds presented by the merchants of that municipality. He also published several scattered poems.