Maria de Jesus Haller (1923 – 18 October 2006), was Angola's first female ambassador. She participated in Angola's struggle for independence from its colonial power, Portugal, and she was a teacher, a journalist and a writer.[1]

Biography

She was born in Angola as Maria de Jesus Nunes Da Silva in 1923, the daughter of a 12-year-old plantation worker who had been raped by the plantation owner.[2][3] When Maria was three, her father sent her to be raised in his native Portugal.[2] At 15, she briefly reunited with her mother and became inspired to pursue activism and politics.[2]

Around 1955 she married Swiss businessman Jean Rodolphe de Haller. While living in Léopoldville in colonial Belgian Congo, she met fellow Angolans living in exile who opposed Portugal's oppression of the Black population of Angola.[2] After returning to Europe, Haller stayed in contact with the group and, around 1965, was asked to represent the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) in Cairo, Egypt.[4][5] She faced sexism in this role, with Egyptian officials denying her access to radio stations until she and Agostinho Neto threatened to leave Egypt.[6]

After 13 years of war, Angola gained its independence on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto as its first president. In 1978, Haller became Angola's first female ambassador and was sent to Stockholm to represent her country in the Kingdom of Sweden.[7] She later became director of the Asia and Oceania Department in Angola's Ministry of External Relations.[4]

She was a member of the Union of Angolan Writers (UEA) and in 1988 contributed a children's story to the union's Acácia Rubra anthology.[8][9]

Haller died on 18 October 2006 in Geneva, Switzerland, after a prolonged illness.[1] Her funeral was held in Angola.[4]

Works

  • "Fá...pe...lááá!!!". Acácia Rubra. União dos Escritores Angolanos (UEA). 1988. (anthology of children's stories)

References

  1. 1 2 "Morreu Maria Haller, primeira embaixadora de Angola" (in Portuguese). Angola Press Agency. 18 October 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 1000 Peacewomen Across the Globe. Scalo Verlag Ac. 2006. p. 924. ISBN 978-3039390397.
  3. ↑ Haller, Colinette (2016). Le dos de ma lumière (in French). Chiado Editeur. ISBN 9789895151738.
  4. 1 2 3 "Suíça: Corpo de ex-embaixadora Maria Haller cremado hoje em Genebra" (in Portuguese). Angola Press Agency. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Comissão para a Elaboração da História (2008). História do MPLA: 1940-1966 (in Portuguese). Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola. p. 334.
  6. ↑ "Maria de Jesus Haller – Angola". World People's Blog. World-Wide Asian-Eurasian Human Rights Forum. 3 September 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Lagerström, Birgitta; Nilsson, Hillevi (1993). Angolanskor (in Swedish). Afrikagrupperna. ISBN 9185584436.
  8. ↑ Fernandes, Maria Celestina. "Surgimento e Desenvolvimento da Literatura Infantil Angolana Pós-Independência" (in Portuguese). União dos Escritores Angolanos (UEA). Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Simoes da Silva, Tony (15 April 1999). "Women Writing Africa: A Bibliography of Lusophone Women Writers". University of Wollongong, Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
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