Orlando da Costa

Who was Orlando da Costa?

Orlando António Fernandes da Costa was a Portuguese writer of Goan descent on his father Luís Afonso Maria da Costa's side and of Portuguese and French on his mother Amélia Maria Fréchaut Fernandes' side. Born in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique, a Portuguese colony at the time, he spent his youth in Goa, Portuguese India, another Portuguese colony. At the age of 18, he left Goa and traveled to Lisbon, where he studied history and philosophy at the local university. In 1951, Costa published his first work, a poetry book entitled A Estrada e a Voz. He continued publishing, not only poetry, but also drama and romance.

During the 1950s, Orlando da Costa spent most of his time in the House of the Students of the Empire, an institution mainly built to house students from the colonies that were studying in the metropole. There, he came in contact with many of the future leaders of the nationalist movements of the colonies, such as the MPLA, the FRELIMO and the PAIGC.

Orlando da Costa joined the Portuguese Communist Party in 1954, during the dictatorial regime of Oliveira Salazar, when the Party was still outlawed. He developed his work as a communist in the intellectual sector of the Lisbon region.