The poet who has left his mark on Africa

Outside of the world of Lusophone literature, few will have mourned, and few will have heard of the poet José Craveirinha who died in a Johannesburg hospital on February 6, 2003, but in Mozambique his state funeral was held on a day of national mourning. What is remarkable is that he was not a statesman or politician, he was a poet, a writer, with a passion for sport, and he struggled to free his country from Portuguese colonialism.

His legacy stretches beyond the shaping of the nation of Mozambique and includes, indirectly, putting his country on the world's sporting map, for it was Craveirinha who spotted the talent of Maria Mutola and encouraged her to pursue a career as an athlete.

Craveirinha was born in Maputo on 28 May 1922. He made a name for himself as a journalist, working first on the proto- nationalist paper O Brado Africano. It was through this paper that he came to know other anti-colonial poets such as Rui de Noronha, Noemia de Sousa, and Marcelino dos Santos.

Craveirinha later worked on the daily papers "Noticias" and "A Tribuna", and contributed articles to several other publications in Lourenco Marques, as Maputo was then known. Many of his early poems were first published in these newspapers. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he won literary prizes in Lourenco Marques, Beira and Lisbon.

He was active in the Lourenco Marques African Association in the 1950s, and became its chairperson. This activity was tolerated by the colonial regime - but Craveirinha was also involved in clandestine politics, and joined the newly-formed liberation movement, Frelimo.

Craveirinha's first collection of poetry, Chigubo, was published in 1964. But the following year he was arrested by the Portuguese political police, known by their acronym Pide, in 1965, as a Frelimo member and was jailed until 1969. His companions in prison included the painter Malangatana and the poet Rui Nogar.

Since Mozambican independence in 1975, Craveirinha has been widely recognised as one of the greatest contemporary poets in the Portuguese language, and was awarded the prestigious Camoes Prize in 1991.

His work includes a number of collections of poetry, Karingana ua Karingana (which was judged one of Africa's 100 Best Books). His other books include Cela 1, Babalaze de Hienas and a collection of newspaper columns written in the 1950s for O Brado Africano.

Tributes to Craveirinha reflected his status as Mozambique's greatest poet, and one whose heritage extends to the entire Lusophone world.

Armando Artur, the president of the Mozambican Writers Association said Mozambican Literature had lost "one of its precursors and its greatest exponent".
"We are in double mourning. In less than six months we have lost two of the greatest names in our literature: first Noémia de Sousa and now José Craveirinha.
"But because a poet never dies, we are consoled by the fact that the work of José Craveirinha will continue to inspire not just my generation, but also future generations."

José Saramago, the 1998 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, remembered his personal friend as a writer with a "great capacity to understand his own people".
He lamented the "sad routine of seeing the disappearance of one of Portuguese culture's great figures". "He possessed a fine irony, a humour which he disguised on himself," said Saramago.

Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said Craveirinha "was a poet, a man of culture, and a combatant in the national liberation struggle who provided valuable services to the nation through his active participation in the promotion of arts, letters and sport in Mozambique". Declaring him a national hero was a way of recognising "the multifaceted and transcendental nature of his life and work".

President Xanana Gusmão, of East Timor and himself a poet, said: "Craveirinha enriched us all in bringing his sense of Mozambican identity to his writing".

The Angolan writer Pepetela expressed his profound consternation at the "irreparable loss for Africa and for the world.

The Portuguese poet Manuel Alegre said that with the death of José Craveirinha "Mozambique had lost one of its founders, because poets also establish nations."

Mozambican writer Fernando Couto, whose company Ndjira published Craveirinha's work in partnership with the Portuguese company Caminho, said "there's no doubt that Craveirinha's poetry influenced a whole generation of Mozambican writers. He had a profound knowledge of lyrical poetry, a knowledge that was evolving over the years".

Couto's son, the novelist Mia Couto, described Craveirinha as "a master and a close friend. He was a partner in many battles and many campaigns".

For Mozambican poet, Eduardo White, the death of Craveirinha was the loss of "a major reference point for Mozambicans".