The unveiling of the statue was done by the hands of Maria Eugénia Neto. "A bust of Dr. António Agostinho Neto, the first President of Angola and Founder of the Nation, was unveiled today [Tuesday] in Rome, by his widow and president of the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Foundation", says a statement from the Foundation Dr. António Agostinho Neto, which VerAngola had access to.
As part of the centenary of Agostinho Neto, the act took place at Largo Beato Plácido Riccardi, in the Italian capital.
"The aforementioned bust was donated by the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Foundation so that the name and work of one of the most prominent fighters for total freedom in Africa, whose commitment was decisive for Namibia's independence, would be immortalized in the 'Eternal City', of Zimbabwe, the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the release of Nelson Mandela", says the foundation, in the statement.
Furthermore, the note adds: "It is also a well-deserved acknowledgment to a plethora of illustrious children of Italy who exerted an exceptional action in the process of the struggle for Angola's independence", such as "Augusta Conchiglia; Stefano Di Stefani; the couple Carlo and Leda Giulini; Joyce Lussu; Alberto Mondadori; Giancarlo Vigorreli; Piero Gamachio; Mário Albano; Dina Forti; Marcella Glisenti, who played a key role in the papal audience granted by Pope Paul VI in 1970 to the nationalists Agostinho Neto, Amílcar Cabral and Marcelino dos Santos; among other Italian intellectuals, that history should do justice, in the process of struggle for self-determination, of the former Portuguese colonies".
Maria Eugénia Neto, speaking on the occasion, said that for Agostinho Neto "the relationship with Italy was of particular importance, both for its political and cultural proximity".
"Italy was one of the European countries where various African liberation movements found ideological or humanitarian affinities and the solidarity of people from all social and political strata", she said.
The president of FAAN also indicated that "in 2020, the Agostinho Neto Foundation, the Amílcar Cabral Foundation and the Marcelino dos Santos Foundation planned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Conference of Solidarity with the Peoples of the Portuguese Colonies and of the Audience of Pope Paul VI to Amílcar Cabral, António Agostinho Neto and Marcelino dos Santos", whose "events took place from the 27th to the 29th of June, and the 1st of July 1970, respectively".
Thus, he stressed that this Tuesday (June 27) marked "precisely 53 years since the Solidarity Conference and the Papal Audience took place, which had a great international impact and made the independence struggles of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe best known around the world".
"The bronze bust of António Agostinho Neto in the eternal city will be an indelible mark of the revolutionary vanguard that proclaimed Angola's independence. Italy was, as is known, the first country in Western Europe to recognize Angola's independence on February 18 1976", he said, adding that the installation of the sculpture in Largo Beato Plácido Riccardi will make it possible to "create an aesthetic and historical dialogue with the local community and visitors, while honoring the young Pietro Bruno, who died in this municipality while supporting the independence of Angola ".
According to the foundation's communiqué, the ceremony was attended – in addition to Maria Eugénia Neto and Filipe Zau – by Maria de Fátima Jardim, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Republic of Angola in Rome; Georgio de Marchis, Director of the Department of Languages, Literature and Foreign Culture and Coordinator of the Chair Dr. Agostinho Neto, at the University of Roma Ter; Jorge José de Figueiredo, Ambassador of Cape Verde; Santos Álvaro, Ambassador of Mozambique; Alexey Vladimiro Cich Paramonov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation; Mietane Chauke, Ambassador of Zimbabwe; the representative of Portugal; diplomats of the Republic of Angola at the Vatican; members of the Italian Government; directors of FAAN; academics; students and the general public.
