| Paulo Dias de Novais | |
| Office: | 1st Captain-Governor of Portuguese Angola |
| Term Start: | 1575 |
| Term End: | 1589 |
| Predecessor: | Office created |
| Successor: | Luís Serrão |
| Birth Date: | c. 1510 |
| Birth Place: | Kingdom of Portugal |
| Death Date: | 9 May 1589 |
| Death Place: | Massangano, Portuguese Angola |
| Nationality: | Portuguese |
| Allegiance: | Portuguese Empire |
Paulo Dias de Novais (c. 1510 – 9 May 1589), a fidalgo of the Royal Household, was a Portuguese colonizer of Africa in the 16th century and the first Captain-Governor of Portuguese Angola.[1] He was the grandson of the explorer Bartolomeu Dias.[2]
Dias arrived in what is now Angola on 11 February 1575.[3] Attracted by the prospect of the famous silver mines of Cambambe, he founded the settlement of São Paulo de Luanda, near the island of Luanda.[4] He became the first governor of Angola on 19 September 1575.[5]