Onésimo Silveira (February 10, 1935 – April 29, 2021) was a

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

an politician and writer.

Biography

As a young poet, Silveira was one of the most prominent critics of the literary elite in Cape Verde. He was associated with the views of the '' Claridade'' group, and argued in favour of an African

cultural identity Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity (social science), identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, Locality (settlement), locality, gender, o ...

of the islands. Silveira was a student in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, during the 1960s, after having spent a period in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In Uppsala he had close links with the South Africa Committee of the city, which was crucial for the initiation of solidarity work for the

African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was o ...

(PAIGC) in Sweden. He became the representative of the PAIGC in Sweden.Hamilton
''Voices from an Empire: A History of Afro-Portuguese Literature''
1975. p. 272. Silveira made several visits to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, where he established good relations with the

Norwegian Council for Africa Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

and the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

, and played a role in the securing of official Norwegian support for the PAIGC in 1972. He also represented the PAIGC during visits to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Silveira was dismissed from his position as the PAIGC representative in Sweden in November 1972. According to the PAIGC, his dismissal was a disciplinary action due to Silveira's failure to attend a meeting in

Guinea-Conakry Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. However, the organization expressed its gratitude towards Silveira for his work in establishing links between Sweden and the PAIGC. Silveira later worked for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, representing the U.N. in countries like

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. With the opening of multi-party politics in Cape Verde after 1990, Silveira was hostile to the

African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde The African Party for Independence of Cape Verde (, PAICV) is a democratic socialist political party in Cape Verde. It was the sole legal party in the country from 1981 to 1990. Its members are nicknamed "" (the tamarinds) in Portuguese, and t ...

(PAICV). In November 1998, he formed his own political party, the

Labour and Solidarity Party The Labour and Solidarity Party (, PTS) is a social democratic political party in Cape Verde. It is based in São Vicente and led by Gilson Alves. History The party was founded by Onésimo Silveira in November 1998. In the buildup to the Janu ...

(PTS). He became mayor of the town of Mindelo.''Öar förlorade i havet''
In 2006 he was elected member of parliament as a PAICV candidate.

Bibliography

*''Toda a gente fala; sim, senhor''. Sá da Bandeira: Publicações Imbondeiro, 1960. *''Hora grande; poesia caboverdiana''. Nova Lisboa: Publicações Bailunda, 1962. *''Consciencializac̦ão na literatura caboverdiana''. Lisboa: Edic̦ão da Casa dos Estudantes do Império, 1963. *''Africa South of the Sahara: Party Systems and Ideologies of Socialism''. Stockholm: Rabén och Sjögren, 1976. *''A saga das as-secas e das graças de nossenhor''. Portugal: Publicações Europa-América, 1991. *''A tortura em nome do partido único: o PAICV e a sua polícia política'': epoimentos . Vicente, Cabo Verde Edições Terra Nova e Ponto & Vírgula, 1992. *''Contribuição para a construção da democracia em Cabo Verde, (Intervenções)''. Gráfica do Mindelo, 1994. *''A democracia em Cabo Verde''. Extra-colecção. Lisboa: Edições Colibri, 2005. *Roque, Fátima, Joaquim Alberto Chissano, Onésimo Silveira, and António de Almeida Santos. ''África, a NEPAD e o futuro''. Luanda, Angola: Texto Editores, 2007. *''Poemas do tempo de trevas: Saga (poesia inédita e dispersa) Hora grande (reedição)''. Praia: Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silveira, Onesimo 1935 births 2021 deaths African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde politicians Cape Verdean male writers Labour and Solidarity Party politicians Members of the National Assembly (Cape Verde) People from Mindelo Presidents of municipalities in Cape Verde Writers from São Vicente, Cape Verde