Liberto Cruz, who passed away on the 9th of this month in Sintra, was also a poet, essayist, translator, and a lecturer at the University of Upper Brittany in Rennes, where he worked alongside the former President of the Republic and founder of the Socialist Party, Mário Soares.
At Vincennes University in Paris, he introduced the study of African literatures in Portuguese expression to France. He served as the cultural advisor at the embassy in France and was a director at the Oriente Foundation.
Liberto Cruz was also known for founding the magazine Sibila. He directed a collection at the publisher Ulisseia, was president of the Portuguese Association of Literary Critics, a board member of the National Society of Fine Arts, and managed cultural affairs at the Convent of Arrábida.
In a motion presented by the Socialist Party, it is noted that he published his first poetry books as a young man in self-published editions: Momento (1956), A tua Palavra (1958), Névoa ou Sintaxe (1959).
“From his poetic life, there emerges a profound connection formed between the writer and the citizen,” is added in the text from the socialist bench, read by MP Porfírio Silva.
