List of Famous people born in Benguela Province, Angola
Leila Lopes
Leila Luliana da Costa Vieira Lopes Umenyiora is an Angolan model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2011. She had previously won Miss Angola UK 2010 and Miss Angola 2010, and was the first woman from Angola to win Miss Universe.
João Lourenço
João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, GColIH is an Angolan politician who has served as President of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018 he became the Chairman of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party. He was the party's Secretary-General from 1998 to 2003.
Rui Jordão
Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão was a Portuguese footballer.
Laura Soveral
Laura Soveral was a Portuguese actress. She has performed in more than seventy films since 1966.
Adalberto Costa Júnior
Adalberto Costa Júnior is an Angolan politician, current president of UNITA and a member of the National Assembly of Angola.
José Águas
José Pinto de Carvalho Santos Águas was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker.
Pepetela
Artur Carlos Maurício Pestana dos Santos is a major Angolan writer of fiction. He writes under the name Pepetela.
Akwá
Fabrice Alcebiades Maieco, commonly known as Akwá, is an Angolan former football player who played as a forward for the Angolan national team. From his international debut in 1995, Akwá represented Angola 78 times, scoring a record 39 goals. He played for them in three Africa Cup of Nations and captained the side at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Akwá has a brother, Rasca, who was a professional football player for Atlético Sport Aviação in Angola.
Matias Damásio
Matias Damásio is an Angolan musician, singer and songwriter in popular music, romantic music and in Kizomba. He also enjoys great popularity in Portugal through his albums Por amor that reached number 4 in Portuguese Albums Chart in 2016 and Augusta that peaked the albums chart in Portugal in 2018.
Edite Soeiro
Edite Castro Soeiro was a Portuguese journalist, notable as one of the first women to attain a senior position on Portuguese journalism. She was born in Angola, where she worked for the Benguela weekly O Intransigente in the 1950s before moving to Portugal and working for the publications Flama, Notícia, O Jornal and Visão, amongst others.