Vera Valentina Benrós de Melo Duarte Lobo de Pina (born October 2, 1952), also known as Vera Duarte Martins, is 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 poet,

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Biography

Duarte was born in

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2 ...

on the island of São Vicente. She spent her first years of school in

. She studied abroad in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

. She returned to

Praia Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.North–South Prize The North–South Prize is awarded annually by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to two public figures who are recognised for their deep commitment, outstanding achievements and hope they have generated in the field of protection of ...

in 1995, along with musician,

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

. The North–South Prize is awarded annually to recipients in the field of human rights by the North–South Centre of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. She is also a founding member of the Lisbon Forum. Duarte is the only Capeverdean to have the U Tam'si Prize for African Poetry won in 2001. Duarte co-founded and chaired the National Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship of

in 2003. Most recently, Duarte has served as the Cape Verdean

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Works

Poetry

* 1993 – ''Amanhã amadrugada'' * 2001 – ''O arquipélago da paixão'' * 2005 – ''Preces e súplicas ou os cânticos da desesperança'' * 2010 – ''Exercícios poéticos'' * 2018 - ''A reinvenção do mar''

Novels

* 2003 – ''A candidata'' (''The Candidate'') * 2017 - ''A matriarca – uma estória de mestiçagens'' (''The Matriarch'') * 2021 - ''A Vénus Crioula'' (''The Creole Venus'')

Essays

* 2007 – ''Construindo a utopia'' (''Constructing Utopias'')

References

Cape Verdean human rights activists Government ministers of Cape Verde 1952 births Living people People from Mindelo Cape Verdean women poets Cape Verdean novelists 20th-century Cape Verdean poets 21st-century poets 21st-century novelists Women essayists 21st-century essayists 20th-century women writers 21st-century women writers 21st-century judges 21st-century women politicians Women government ministers of Cape Verde Cape Verdean women novelists Cape Verdean women activists Women human rights activists {{CapeVerde-politician-stub