“Camões was an ardent enthusiast… he had a fondness for women, which often led to his imprisonment due to numerous issues, especially with married women (…). He arrived in 1567, lacking funds to continue his journey back to Portugal, as well as to sustain himself on Mozambique Island,” stated Mozambican scholar Lourenço do Rosário, following his opening lecture at the second congress celebrating the 500th anniversary of Camões.
Mozambique is hosting the second congress commemorating the 500th birthday of Luís de Camões, focusing on the Portuguese poet’s connection with the Indian Ocean and Mozambican territory.
Lourenço do Rosário, essayist and literature professor, remarked that Camões was welcomed “in Macuti,” dwellings built with local materials, “by Muthianas women” (women, in the local language of Nampula) upon his arrival on Mozambique Island.
“He composed the poem ‘Endechas a Bárbara Escrava,’ one of the most beautiful poems he wrote about women, thus Camões knew how to celebrate women,” added Lourenço do Rosário.
The former rector of the Polytechnic University of Maputo and jury member of the Leya Prize criticized Portugal for not appreciating Camões’ achievements for the Portuguese Empire in the East, arguing that it’s vital to acknowledge that the poet “started writing and completed his works in Mozambique.”
“Therefore, we have an obligation to recover this interpretation of Camões and examine his critical views regarding Portugal’s presence in the eastern empire,” expressed the professor, urging research to ensure Camões’ presence in educational curricula from his actions in the East.
From this perspective, Lourenço do Rosário emphasized that Camões should be seen in Mozambique as someone who was “imprisoned, expelled, and exiled,” who fought as a soldier and lived in poverty, enduring “hardships” in the East, before Portugal presented him to the world as a “great Portuguese poet.”
Lourenço do Rosário called for further research to influence political decisions concerning Camões in educational programs. “We must value what is ours, and Camões is ours, because he wrote here.”
“There is an entire generation, the group including [Eduardo] White, Nelson Saúte, Rui Knopfli, especially poets connected to Mozambique Island, who are heavily influenced by Camões’ writing, Camões’ perspective of the world, not only from a viewpoint of love but also regarding social critique. Therefore, I believe Mozambican researchers have a wealth of material to uncover and influence our textbooks. Not the heroic Camões of Portugal, but our Camões, of Mozambique,” he proclaimed.
The Portuguese ambassador to Mozambique, also present at the congress’s opening, highlighted academic efforts in praising Camões as a “unifying element” of a culture and language that “belongs not only to the Portuguese,” identifying the poet as a “symbol projecting the future community of Portuguese speakers.”
“It holds global importance for everyone who speaks, who communicates in Portuguese, but since we are in Mozambique, I would say it is especially significant for Mozambique, given the historically proven connection,” stated António Costa Moura, urging more investment in studies about Camões to expand the Portuguese language.
“This investment in the language is achieved through teaching, education, and culture, hence the importance I, as ambassador here for four years, have placed on strengthening diversifying activities and developing training components at the Portuguese School of Mozambique,” he advocated, adding that Portuguese should become the “lingua franca” in Mozambique, especially for global communication.
The Camões Network in Africa and Asia, which promotes and encourages studies and publications about Camões, held the first congress on the 500th anniversary of the poet’s birth last year in Macau, with plans to host a similar event in Goa by 2026, traversing places where Camões lived and traveled, explained the organization.
Born 501 years ago, on June 10, 1524, in Lisbon, poet-soldier Luís Vaz de Camões lived and wrote for about two years on Mozambique Island, on the old Fogo street, where he also felt that love “is a fire that burns without being seen.”
