Vieira, José Luandino

José Luandino Vieira Mateus de Graça, which is his complete name, was born in Lagoa do Furadouro in Portugal. As a small boy, he emigrated with his family in 1938 to Angola, where he grew up in the shanty towns of Luanda. His father was a shoemaker and had a small workshop with two or three employees. The family belonged to the colonial immigrants in Angola, which meant that they were a little bit better off than the Angolans. But the so-called small colonizers, workers and craftsmen, were at the bottom of the scale among the white. In this aspect, Vieira belonged to the same social class as his playmates, the African children.