Pioneers of the press in Mozambique: João Albasini and his brother

Abstract

This paper is the first of a series of writings about pioneer journalists in the history of the Mozambican press. Since the second half of the XIX century, the Mozambican press began its development with João Albasini and his brother, José Albasini. João Albasini is considered the first journalist of Mozambique. He created the newspapers “O Africano” (“The African”) and “O Brado Africano” (“The African Shout”) respectively. This article provides a quick historical background of the country in the late XIX century and examines the contributions of the Albasini brothers to journalism, focused especially on the Grêmio Africano (African Guild). “O Brado Africano” is considered to be the newspaper in which the most important writers of Mozambique began publishing their texts, while João Albasini himself is the author of a posthumous book which inaugurated the country’s literary period.