Joaquim Alberto Chissano (born 1939), one of the leaders of the war of liberation against Portugal, became his nation's first foreign minister when Mozambique won its independence in 1975. Upon the accidental death of President Samora Machel in 1986 Chissano became president.

Joaquim Alberto Chissano was born on October 22, 1939, at Chibuto in the province of Gaza in the south of Mozambique. He went through an impoverished childhood, as did the great majority of Mozambicans of his generation. Nevertheless, he was able to go through primary and secondary high school at Tai-Xai and Liceu Salazar in Lourenco Marques (now Maputo), respectively. After lonely school years he emerged as one of the first Black children to graduate from the Liceu Salazar. He then left for Portugal in pursuit of further studies.

After failing anatomy at the end of his first year at a Portuguese university he moved to France, where he soon emerged...