Photo: Mia_Couto.jpg : Luis Miguel Martins from Portugal derivative work: MachoCarioca, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons²⁰

Mia Couto

Mozambican writer (born 1955)

António Emílio Leite Couto, better known as Mia Couto (born 5 July 1955), is a Mozambican writer. He won the Camões Prize in 2013, the most important literary award in the Portuguese language, and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2014.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Mia Couto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jul 5, 1955.¹

Early life and education

Date not recordedEduardo Mondlane University³

Early years

Mia Couto was born on 5 July 1955 in Beira, Mozambique, the country's third largest city, where he was also raised and schooled. He is the son of Portuguese emigrants who moved to the Portuguese colony in the 1950s. When he was 14 years old, some of his poetry was published in a local newspaper, Notícias da Beira. Three years later, in 1971, he moved to the capital Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) and began to study medicine at the University of Lourenço Marques. During this time, the anti-colonial guerrilla and political movement FRELIMO was struggling to overthrow the Portuguese colonial rule in Mozambique.

From Wikipedia’s article on Mia Couto (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: poet, biologist, children's writer, editor-in-chief, author, writer, novelist, journalist.⁷

1979 to 1980Chief executive, Tempográfica⁶
Date not recordedWorked at Notícias⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Tempo⁴
Date not recordedWorked at Agência de Informação de Moçambique⁴
Date not recordedFounded Fundação Fernando Leite Couto⁵

Personal life

BornJul 5, 1955, Beira⁸
CitizenshipMozambique^{9 10}

Awards

2025Prix Laure Bataillon^{11 18}
2024FIL Award^{11 17}
2020Jan Michalski Prize^{11 15}
2020Prix Albert-Bernard^{11 16}
2014Neustadt International Prize for Literature^{11 14}
2013Camões Prize^{10 11}
2012Prix Tropiques^{11 13}
2009Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil)¹¹
1999Prémio Vergílio Ferreira¹¹
Date not recordedCommander of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword^{11 12}

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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WikidataMia Couto on Wikidata
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WikipediaMia Couto on Wikipedia
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WikidataMia Couto: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataMia Couto: Worked at Notícias, on Wikidata
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WikidataMia Couto: Founded Fundação Fernando Leite Couto, on Wikidata
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WikidataMia Couto: Chief executive, Tempográfica, on Wikidata
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WikidataMia Couto: occupation, on Wikidata
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WikidataMia Couto: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataMia Couto: citizenship, on Wikidata
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Wikidatacitizenship, as reported
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WikidataMia Couto: award, on Wikidata
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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Wikidataaward, as reported
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WikidataMia Couto: IMDb, on Wikidata
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Wikimedia CommonsMia Couto photo by Mia_Couto.jpg : Luis Miguel Martins from Portugal derivative work: MachoCarioca, CC BY-SA 3.0