Angolan writer Antonio Cardoso dies at 73

LUANDA, June 27 (Reuters) Antonio Cardoso, one of the leading literary lights of Angola's independence movement in the 1960s, has died of prostate cancer, Angola's state-run media reported today. He was 73.

Cardoso, best known for his 1961 book ''Poems of Circumstance'', died in Lisbon on Sunday, ANGOP reported.

The Luanda-born poet and novelist was instrumental in establishing modern Angolan literature, said Adriano Botelho de Vasconcelos, the secretary general of the Union of Angolan Writers.

Cardoso became a student activist after World War Two and was arrested by Portugal's secret police in Angola in 1959 and 1961 for his political activities. He was later transferred to the Tarrafal de Santiago prison in Cape Verde.

After his release in 1974, Cardoso returned to Angola where he published a number of books about his experiences in prison and life during the colonial era. He was also elected to Luanda's first provincial commission.

Cardoso is expected to be buried in Luanda later this week, ANGOP said.

REUTERS SHB ND1748