Biography:

Ruy Alberto Vieira Dias Rodrigues Mingas ( Angola , 12 May 1939 – Lisbon , 4 January 2024 ) was an Angolan singer , composer , diplomat , businessman and politician . He was a deputy in the Angolan parliament , secretary with the status of Minister of Sports and ambassador of Angola to Portugal . He composed the music for the National Anthem of Angola .

Of his recording work, the highlights are “Cantiga por Luciana”, “Poema da farra”, “Maquesu”, ^[ 1 ] “Muadiaquimi”, “Birin birin”, “Monagambé”, “Adeus à hora da departure” ^[ 2 ] and the much acclaimed “Meninos do Huambo”. ^{[ 1 ] [ 3 ]}

Born in the Ingombota area , ^[ 4 ] in Luanda, he was the son of André “Mongone” Rodrigues Mingas and Antónia Diniz de Aniceto Vieira Dias. ^[ 5 ] Some of Ruy Mingas’ brothers were also notable figures in Angolan history , namely the politician, singer and composer André Rodrigues Mingas Júnior, ^[ 5 ] the linguist and researcher Amélia Mingas , ^[ 5 ] the athlete and administrator Júlia Rodrigues Mingas, police commander José “Zé” Rodrigues Mingas and economist, writer and politician Saíde Mingas . ^[ 5 ]

Ruy Mingas belonged to a family of influential Angolan musicians. From his uncle Liceu Vieira Dias ^[ 5 ] he received the rhythm and a new way of interpreting Angolan music. During his musical career, Ruy Mingas developed his own sound in order to achieve what his uncle Liceu Vieira Dias always asked him to do (“Cultivate [his] musical ear”), thus influencing another Angolan musician, his brother André Rodrigues Mingas Júnior. ^{[ 6 ] [ 7 ]}

Ruy Mingas was an athlete in the 1950s and 1960s, having competed in the high jump and 110 m hurdles, at Sport Lisboa e Benfica , being the record holder in the high jump in July 1960. ^{[ 8 ] [ 9 ]}

She participated in the Zip-Zip program in 1969, ^[ 1 ] which became a sub-editor of the record label Companhia de Discos de Angola (CDA), as the artist who wrote the program’s first album with the song “Ixi Ami”. ^[ 1 ] He recorded several albums on the Zip-Zip label . ^[ 1 ] In 1970 he released his first album entitled “Angola”, widely acclaimed and re-recorded in Spain , France (with the title “Africa Negra”) and Italy . ^[ 1 ] The song “Maquesu”, by Zip-Zip, was part of his second album, entitled “Temas Angolanos”, released in 1974. ^[ 1 ] This contained lyrics from poems by Viriato da Cruz and Agostinho Neto , and featured the participation of his brother André Mingas, French percussionist Daniel Louis or Brazilian pianist Marcos Resende, with production by Thilo Krasmann . ^[ 1 ]

Even though he already had a robust musical career, in the 1970s Ruy Mingas worked as a physical education teacher at the D. António da Costa Preparatory School, in Almada , Portugal. ^[ 10 ] The period in Lisbon and Almada was also for study at the Faculty of Human Motricity of the University of Lisbon. ^[ 11 ]

In the Carnation Revolution , in April 1974, he was the main name of the diplomatic corps of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in Portugal, ^[ 1 ] being responsible for initiating negotiations for Angolan independence with the officers of the Revolutionary Process in Course (PREC). ^{[ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 3 ]} He returned to Angola to fight in the final battles of the war of independence. ^[ 3 ]

He was one of the authors of the acclaimed song “Meninos do Huambo”, released in 1976 and made famous in Portugal by Paulo de Carvalho . ^[ 14 ] He is especially notable for being the composer of the song Angola Avante! , the National Anthem of Angola. ^[ 15 ]

When the State Secretariat for Physical Education and Sports (SEEFD) was created on July 4, 1979, for the first time a department with the status of an autonomous ministry for sports, ^[ 16 ] Ruy Mingas took over its leadership and was minister for 10 years, a period of vigorous development in Angolan sport. ^[ 17 ] He organized the entire process of Angola’s entry into the International Olympic Committee and the consequent participation, for the first time, in an Olympic Games ( 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow ). ^[ 18 ] Another extraordinary achievement during his period as secretary-minister (also serving as acting Presidency of Zone 4 of the African Sports Council) was the holding of the II Central African Games in Angola, opening on August 20, 1981, at the Cidadela Stadium , where more than 1,500 people, including athletes and referees from 12 countries, participated in the cities of Luanda, Huambo and Lubango in football, handball, basketball, athletics, boxing, cycling, volleyball and judo. ^[ 11 ]

After leaving the ministerial portfolio of Physical Education and Sports, he became Angola’s ambassador to Portugal, serving from 1989 to 1995, ^[ 1 ] playing a very important role as the main Angolan diplomat in the Bicesse Accords . ^[ 1 ]

In 2002, he formed a business association with Paulo Múrias and the “Fundação Minerva – Cultura, Ensino e Investigação Científica” to establish a franchise branch of the Lusíada University in Angola. ^[ 19 ] Since then, he was the main shareholder of the Cabinda university hub of that university. ^[ 20 ] He became a university lecturer on the bachelor’s degree in sport and rector of the Lusíada University. ^{[ 21 ] [ 18 ]} During this period, he also founded the company Saber Angola ^[ 22 ] and the music label XI Amyé Mingas in partnership with the record label GMPAO. ^[ 23 ]

In the 2010s he was appointed by the Angolan government to chair the School Sports Revitalization Commission. ^[ 18 ]

In 2015, it was reported that he belonged to Freemasonry, being a member of the Cónego Manuel das Neves Lodge , of which he was leader, and which is integrated into the Legal Grand Lodge of Portugal . ^[ 24 ]

He was elected deputy of the National Circle of the National Assembly on the MPLA list in the 2017 Angolan general elections , remaining in office until 2021, when he requested leave due to his health condition. ^[ 25 ]

Ruy Mingas died on January 4, 2024, in Lisbon, aged 84, victim of a prolonged illness. ^[ 26 ]

Credits:

Wikipedia