Mozambicans are mourning the death of Abibi Achivangila, the Queen of Niassa, who died on Easter Sunday.
In a Facebook post, President Filipe Nyusi led tributes to the 96-year-old monarch, expressing his admiration for her.
In traditional settings, it is unusual for women to hold such powerful positions.
However, the queen was the fifth in a line of female monarchs dating back hundreds of years to the fight against colonial rule.
According to Mozambican author Paulina Chiziane, the first queen rose to power after defying her husband, the Niassa king, in order to recover people sold into slavery to the Dutch, who had a colony in what is now Cape Town, South Africa.
She then hid them in the mountainous Majune district of Niassa province in northwestern Mozambique.
“Today, descendants of the survivors rescued by Queen Achivangila live in a neighborhood,” Chiziane says.
She went on to call Queen Abibi a heroine for carrying on the legacy’s spirit.
The queen’s wake and burial will take place on Wednesday in the Majune district village of Malila.
