José Craveirinha (born 1922) was a journalist in Mozambique, East Africa, who became the foremost lyric poet of his nation. His early poems inspired African pride and protest during the long (and successful) struggle for independence from Portugal.

José Craveirinha was born on May 28, 1922, in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. His father was an immigrant from the Algarve, Portugal's southernmost province, his mother a Ronga woman born in a village near Lourenço Marques. From her the boy gained his knowledge of African life and lore, while his father introduced him to great Portuguese prose and poetry of the 19th century.

"Zé," as he was called by his family and friends, received a good, European style education in his native city. Lourenço Marques was a cosmopolitan port, a beautiful modern city surrounded by teeming slums. People, ideas, and...