Tomaz Aquino Messias de Bragança (6 April 1924 – 19 October 1986) was a Goan physicist, journalist, diplomat and Mozambican social scientist at the Eduardo Mondlane University.

Aquino de Bragança moved to Portugal by 1948, where he later met the writer Orlando da Costa, who was also from Goa, and who studied philosophy at the University of Lisbon.

In both places, he met students who were aware of the role of Portugal as a colonial power, and had negative and critical positions on the same, including Mário Pinto de Andrade, Frantz Fanon, and Marcelino dos Santos.

Aquino de Bragança developed at that time a strong political consciousness of the Marxist variety and lived with the hope that the colony of Goa could be independent from Portugal.

[2] When the PAIGC and the MPLA in 1961 set up an office of CONCP in Rabat to coordinate the political work of the independence movement of Portuguese colonies, together with the trade unionist and campaigner George Vaz, he represented the Goan People's Party within the new organization.

His participation in this umbrella organization led to a growing influence in CONCP Secretariat and expanding contacts with leading figures in the liberation movements on the African continent.

By this time, the government of the dictator Salazar had become aware of his political activities and therefore sought an arrest warrant for the Portuguese secret police (PIDE) dated 14 March 1962.

He participated as an author and co-author along with Pascoal Mocumbi and Edmundo Rocha of the conference documents (for example, "The political situation in Portugal" and "Liberation struggle in the Portuguese colonies").

From this group of people are Mário Pinto de Andrade, Ben Bella, Amílcar Cabral, Samora Machel, Agostinho Neto and Eduardo Mondlane.

Aquino de Bragança introduced the first official talks on behalf of his future homeland of Mozambique with the new political forces of the former colonial power, Portugal.

As a result, there developed intense working contacts between the two sides, which were largely driven by Victor Crespo for the Portuguese government and by Joaquim Chissano and Aquino de Bragança for Mozambican negotiator.

In this context, there were discussions between Samora Machel and Ramalho Eanes, who later became President of Portugal, a longtime General in Angola and a member of the Movimento das Forças Armadas.

Before his death, Bragança worked on the preparations for a meeting between South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha and Samora Machel, which could have resulted in a reduction of conflicts between the two countries.