José Pádua was born in the city of Beira, Mozambique, in 1934, and has been residing in Lisbon since 1977. He was elected as a Visual Artist in 1966 by the newspaper A Tribuna de Moçambique, for his work as a painter, decorator, illustrator, and engraver. From 1974 to 1978, he worked exclusively for the R. Rennie Art Gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe. From 1979 to 1981, he received a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, attending courses in metal engraving and lithography. In 1980 and 1981, he was awarded the 2nd and 1st Prizes, respectively, in exhibitions on Lisbon themes. He also works in the field of sculpture and tile artwork, as well as creating cement murals in Johannesburg at the Bank of Lisbon & South Africa, and in Mozambique at the Mavalane and Beira airports, Banco Pinto & Sotto Mayor, Montepio de Moçambique, Banco de Crédito Comercial e Industrial, the swimming pools at the Beira Railway Sports Complex, Banco de Moçambique, and Cinema Novocine. His works are represented in numerous private collections in Portugal and abroad, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Brazil, Venezuela, USA, Canada, Israel, Japan, and Australia. In addition to participating in various collective exhibitions, he was part of the Mozambican Artists' Tertulia group, which has been exhibiting annually since 1984 in various countries around the world. He passed away at the age of 81 in Amadora in 2016.