Angolan President João Lourenço expressed dismay at the death, on Tuesday morning, of Ismael Mateus, a member of the Council of the Republic and prominent journalist.
The feeling is contained in a message sent to the family of the deceased, to which ANGOP had access, in which it says it received with deep dismay the news of the tragic accident that killed Ismael Mateus, an active member of the Council of the Republic, journalist and writer of great standing.
‘Angola loses an intellectual who, in his intervening action in public life, always knew how to combine a high critical sense with civility and respect for democratic institutions.
President João Lourenço wrote that ‘this responsible attitude was an example for the younger generations, who saw in him a master and a model to follow’.
He recognizes that, with a legion of followers and admirers, also as a fiction writer, the premature death of citizen Ismael Mateus impoverishes ‘our journalism and our culture’.
‘To the bereaved family, his friends and
colleagues, I express the most heartfelt condolences, hoping that they will be able to overcome, in respect of their deeds and their memory, such a painful moment,’ concludes the note of condolence.
A journalist since 1981, Ismael Mateus was born in Luanda, on July 6, 1963. He was a founding member of the Union of Angolan Journalists (SJA) and a member of the Union of Angolan Writers.
Since 1985, he has published opinion pieces, initially on Rádio Nacional de Angola, under the titles ‘Dia a Dia na Cidade’ and ‘Bué de Bocas’ On Radio Luanda Antena Comercial (LAC), he wrote for the rubric ‘Errands to my boss’
Later, he would publish opinion pieces in the newspapers Angolense, Cruzeiro do Sul and in the weekly Angolense.
He published his first book in 1992, the collection of radio texts ‘Bué de Bocas’, in an edition of Edipress. He also released the work ‘Ascensão e Queda, by Bartolas Matias’.
He was coordinator of the collection of texts ‘Angola, the Party and the Mourning’, launched on the occasion of the
25th anniversary of National Independence, in 2000.
In 2001, by the publisher Nzila, he published his first novel with the title ‘The times of YaKalaya’. In 2003, he published the book ‘Sobras de Guerra
Source: Angola Press News Agency
