Juan Balboa Boneke

Juan Balboa Boneke was born in Rebola, Bioko, on June 9, 1938. Educated in commerce in Santa Isabel and Barcelona, Balboa was forced into a painful twelve-year exile in Mallorca during the tyrannical dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema.

During his exile, he composed powerful poetic works including O Boriba (El desterrado) and Sueños en mi selva. Returning to Equatorial Guinea in 1979, he served as Minister of Culture and published his acclaimed novel Requiem por un libertador (1993). In his later years, he continued writing poetry that bridged Bubi ancestral traditions with universal humanism.