London, 27th July 2026 – The third and final volume of «The Bantu in Mafrano’s Vision – Almost Memories», a posthumous cultural anthropology work by Angolan writer and ethnologist Maurício Caetano, known as “Mafrano,” will be launched in London on 26th September, at 11H30 am.
The event will take place at the «Adventure Playground Conference Centre», 55 Willington Road, SW9 9NB, in South London, and is expected to bring together members of the academic, cultural, and Lusophone communities.
This final volume spans 327 pages and is structured across eighteen chapters and more than sixty texts. It explores themes related to Bantu civilization, religious thought, and social experiences documented by the author between 1947 and 1982.
Alongside the launch, the family will also announce a forthcoming English-language edition featuring a curated selection of key texts, aimed at expanding the work’s international reach.
The whole collection highlights historically significant essays such as “The Ethnographic Profile of the Black Jinga” (1947) and “The Bantu Slave Before the Slave Traders” (1981), reflecting Mafrano’s long-standing contribution to the study of African societies and cultural identity.
The publication is part of a trilogy compiled posthumously by the author’s family, drawing on decades of writings originally published in Angolan newspapers and magazines. Together, the three volumes total approximately 800 pages.
The first two volumes were presented in London in November 2024 at Birkbeck University, attracting a wide audience. Since then, the work has reached readers and academic institutions across several countries, including Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Germany, Portugal, and Brazil.
Notable figures who have engaged with the collection include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, among others from cultural and academic circles.
Mauricio Caetano, awarded Angola’s National Prize for Culture and Arts in 2004, is recognised for his contribution to research in the human and social sciences. The prize jury described his work as a landmark of historical and cultural value.
The trilogy traces its origins to articles published over a 35-year period, offering a unique perspective on African history, identity, and social transformation.
A Família de Maurício Francisco Caetano, “Mafrano”, expressa a sua gratidão a todos quantos prestigiaram a apresentação da colectânea «Os Bantu na visão de Mafrano – Quase Memórias”, na BIRKBECK UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, no passado sábado, dia 9 de Novembro, e em particular ao Embaixador de Angola no Reino Unido, Gen. Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda, ao Representante da Embaixada do Brasil, Meinardo Cabral, e ao Presidente da Casa da Guiné-Bissau no Reino Unido, Joaquim Moreira, pela participação bastante activa nesse evento, ao lado de outros ilustres participantes dos países da CPLP como foi também o caso da Associação Feminina de São Tomé e Príncipe.
De salientar também a nossa homenagem à LILICA CABRAL, veterana da Luta de Libertação da Guiné Bissau e de Cabo Verde, falecida na cidade da Praia, e esposa de Manuel Rodrigues Boal, ex-aluno de Mafrano, nos idos anos 50’s, em Luanda.
Como disseram alguns dos participantes, tratou-se de «uma oportunidade de os nossos jovens testemunharem tão sublime momento e, principalmente, poderem beber de tão importantes pedaços da nossa História comum e dos seus mais importantes actores!»; bem como «um momento de partilha de experiências e de conhecimentos sobre a antropologia africana na perspectiva de um intelectual angolano muito fino e de mente refinada».
Mafrano em Londres – Comentário de Adido de Imprensa da Embaixada de Angola no Reino Unido, António Sousa: «(…) Parabéns pela brilhante cerimónia de lançamento da obra Os Bantu na visão de Mafrano em Londres. Foi um momento de partilha de experiências e de conhecimentos sobre a antropologia africana na perspectiva de um intelectual angolano muito fino e de mente refinada. É um legado que merece ser estudado nas nossas academias e extra-muros . Bem haja!»
A obra de Mafrano é Prémio Nacional de Cultura 2024
The family of Mauricio Francisco Caetano and the editor of Perfil Criativo – AUTORES.club are delighted to invite you for the presentation of the collection «The Bantu in Mafrano’s vision – Almost memories» which will take place on Saturday, 9th November 2024 at Birkbeck University of London, at 3:00 pm.
Location: BIRKBECK UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, WC1E 7HY.
Date: 9th November 2024
Arrival: 2:30 pm
Start: 3:00 pm
The Portuguese collection «Os Bantu na visão de Mafrano – Quase memórias» (The Bantu in Mafrano’s vision – Almost Memories), a posthumous cultural anthropological trilogy, with more than 700 pages, will be presented on Saturday, 09th November 2024, at the Birkbeck University of London, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, WC1E 7HY, from 14:30-18:00.
Prepared since February 2024, this cultural event aims at gathering a significant audience, including representatives of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), African culture experts, academics, Linguists, literary agents, cultural institutions, and media players interested in African culture.
«Os Bantu na visão de Mafrano – Quase Memórias» is centered on the life, culture, and pre-history of the Bantu people of this southern African country, compiled from newspapers and magazines published from 1947 to 1982.
The city of London was elected to hold this event because of its well-known historical and cultural relevance and to also explore possibilities of a potential translation of this anthropological trilogy into English. The family of the late Mauricio Caetano “Mafrano” believe that the English version will allow a wider dissemination in the United Kingdom, as well as in other countries, that could access this historical and cultural publication.
In Africa, Bantu people spread across 24 countries and approximately 200 ethnic groups, including South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, the Congos (DRC and Brazzaville), Gabon, Lesotho, Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe,
The first volume of this collection was launched in April 2022 in Lubango City, Huila Province, Angola, by Dom Zacarias Kamwenho, the Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Lubango and winner of the «Sakharov Prize 2001,» who wrote the preface. One month later, the book was also launched in the capital, Luanda.
This collection includes themes like the use of “ngolokele” (the telegraph) among the Bantu peoples since ancient times; ancestral writing; professional training; marriage rituals; political tradition; Bantu place names and their legend; the Bantu philosophy on death and the origin of man; reports from Cabinda; dietary habits and beliefs, and other topics on anthropology, archaeology, and Customary Law based on traditional structures.
Born in the city of Dondo, Province of Cuanza-Norte, in Angola, Mauricio Caetano, “Mafrano”, was educated since his childhood by an African Canon José Pereira da Costa Frotta, from São Tomé and Principe, who admitted him in a catholic school, after discovering he was an orphan boy of only five years.
Along 36 years of vast literary production and research activities, “Mafrano” wrote about the bantu civilization, including similar contact points with the classical Greco-Roman mythologies. He also built comparative dialogues, shared experiences, and scientific views to enable readers to travel in a comparative regard through various countries, such as Germany, China, the United States of America, France, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The American anthropologist Franz Boas (1858-1942) and the spanish Raul Ruiz de Asua Altuna (?-2004) are two of the experts quoted by Mafrano in his studies and research.
Before the independence of Angola, on 11th November 1975, Maurício Caetano worked as a teacher and a tax officer, starting a long professional career in General Finance and Accounting Services until being appointed National Director at the Ministry of Finance. “Mafrano”, as he was mostly known, was also one of the founding members of the Union of Angolan Writers (UEA). He was also a teacher of Portuguese and Philosophy in prestigious educational institutions, such as the «Liceu Ngola Kiluanji,» the «Makarenko Institute,» the «PIO XII Institute,» and the Institute of Religious Sciences of Angola (ICRA).
According to historical writings, the author initiated his literary activity in 1947 at the Independent Newspaper «Angola Norte,» published in the Northern Province of Malanje. Mafrano. He also published his studies and reflections in «Revista ANGOLA», a magazine from the African National League in Angola, and in other national newspapers such as «O FAROLIM,» «O APOSTOLADO», «O ANGOLENSE», «TRIBUNA dos Musseques» among others. He worked closely with the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, the Cardinal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento, and siblings, Mário and Joaquim Pinto de Andrade, who were leading figures of Angolan nationalism.
Dom Zacarias Kamwenho, Emeritus Archbishop of Lubango and Sakharov prize winner, prefaced this collection in 2001. As of today, the «Os Bantu na visão de Mafrano» has been presented in Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Portugal, and by video conferences at the universities of Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.
A família de Maurício Francisco Caetano, o editor da Perfil Criativo | AUTORES.club e a organização do evento convidam V/ Exa para o lançamento oficial do primeiro e do segundo volumes da colectânea «Os Bantu na Visão de Mafrano – Quase Memórias» a ter lugar no dia 9 de Novembro de 2024 na Birkbeck University of London, às 15:00.
The family of Mauricio Francisco Caetano, the editor of Perfil Criativo | AUTORES.club and the Organization of the event are delighted to invite you to our upcoming event, the book launching of «The Bantu in the Mafrano’s vision – Almost memories» which will be held on Saturday 9th November 2024 at Birkbeck University of London, at 3:00 pm.
