Rei Amador

Amador Vieira, best known as Rei Amador, was a member of the king of the Angolars and leader of a famous slave rebellion that took place in 1595 in the African islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. According to some historic documents, Rei Emadir was "a slave" who avoided slavery and mobilized all the Angolares along with other Africans and made a free nation under the middle of the mentioned islands.[1]

Rei Amador
Statue of Rei Amador
Born
São Tomé Island
Died1596
São Tomé Island
Occupationslave rebel

History of the origin of the Angolars

The Angolars inhabited the south of the island of São Tomé, there are different versions on the history .

The first source on the Angolars, which were African slaves where brought from the mainland, probably from Angola who survived a shipwreck that happened about 2–3 miles (4 km) in the south coast of São Tomé Island.[1] Another version was that the Angolars were African slaves who had evaded their owners around 1470, when the Portuguese discovered the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe and have created their own free nation within the islands called Kilombo or Quilombo. The name Kilombo or Quilombo derives from Kimbundu (one of the most spoken languages in Angola), it can mean a settlement kingdom, population and union. Kilombo was an independent nation made by African slaves, who fought against slavery, once they fled, build their independent state with the system of slavery, The Kilombos, in general were localized in its regions densely forested, far from the plantations.[1]

A third version, was that the Angolars were Africans which were immigrated from the mainland to the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, long before the arrivals of the Portuguese into the islands. However, the very particular remains inhistory of the Angolars and their reign in São Tomé and Príncipe are part of a history of self-determination and independence carried out by Rei Amador.[1]

Slave rebellion

On 9 July 1595, Rei Amador, and his people, the Angolars, allied with other enslaved Africans of its plantations, marched into the interior woods and battled against the Portuguese. It is said that day, Rei Amador and his followers raised a flag in front of the settlers and proclaimed Rei Amador as king of São Tomé and Príncipe, making himself as "Rei Amador, liberator of all the black people".[1]

Between 1595 and 1596, the island of São Tomé was ruled by the Angolars, under the command of Rei Amador. On 4 January 1596, he was captured, sent to prison and was later executed by the Portuguese. Still today, they remember him fondly and consider him a national hero of the islands.[1][2]

Legacy
  • In São Tomé and Príncipe, January 4 was declared a holiday in his honour, first celebrated in 2005.
  • A football (soccer) club known as UDRA is named after him.[3]
  • Rei Amador was depicted in a 5,000 dobras note. Also all notes bear the portrait of Rei Amador on the obverse until late 2017.[4] It is a contemporary creation attributed by the painter Pinásio Pina as there is no actual portraits of Rei Amador. Rei Amador was also featured in bank notes of Cape Verde.
  • In 2004 during the International Year on the Battle Against Slavery and its Abolition, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan erected a statue of Rei Amador in São Tomé and Príncipe.[1]

References
  1. Rei Amador.
  2. Lemos, Carlos Neves (1975). Esboço Histórico das Ilhas de S.Tomé e Príncipe [Brief History of the Islands of São Tomé and Príncipe] (in Portuguese). São Tomé: Imprensa Nacional.
  3. A Verdadeira Origem do Célebre Rei Amador Gerhard Seibert of Espaço Cultural STP (in Portuguese)
  4. Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Sao Tome and Principe". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.

Further reading
  • Izequiel Batista de Sousa, São Tomé et Principe de 1485 à 1755 : une société coloniale : du Blanc au Noir, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2008, 374 p. ISBN 978-2-296-06022-7 (texte remanié d'une thèse de doctorat d'Histoire soutenue à l'Université de Paris 1 en 1998) (in French)
  • Fernando de Macedo, Teatro do imaginário angolar de S. Tomé e Príncipe, Cena Lusófona, Coimbra, 2000, 142 p. ISBN 972-982811-3 (in Portuguese)
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