Queen Nzinga (1583 - 1663)
Queen Nzinga was an exceptional stateswoman and military strategist who opposed Portuguese slave trading in Ndongo (which the Portuguese wrongly called Angola, as it is still known) until her death at age eighty. Legend has it that she represented her brother, the ngola (ruler), in a meeting with the Portuguese. When she arrived she saw that the only seat in the room belonged to the Portuguese governor. She summoned one of her women, who fell to her hands and knees and became Queen Nzinga