Eça de Queirós(1845-1900)
- Writer
Novelist committed to social reform who introduced Naturalism and
Realism to Portugal. He is often considered to be the greatest
Portuguese novelist, certainly the leading 19th-century Portuguese
novelist whose fame was international. The son of a prominent
magistrate, Eça de Queiroz spent his early years with relatives and was
sent to boarding school at the age of five. After receiving his degree
in law in 1866 from the University of Coimbra, where he read widely
French, he settled in Lisbon. There his father, who had since married
Eça de Queiroz' mother, made up for past neglect by helping the young
man make a start in the legal profession. Eça de Queiroz' real interest
lay in literature, however, and soon his short stories - ironic,
fantastic, macabre, and often gratuitously shocking - and essays on a
wide variety of subjects began to appear in the "Gazeta de Portugal".
By 1871 he had become closely associated with a group of rebellious
Portuguese intellectuals committed to social and artistic reform and
known as the Generation of '70. Eça de Queiroz gave one of a series of
lectures sponsored by the group in which he denounced contemporary
Portuguese literature as unoriginal and hypocritical. He served as
consul, first in Havana (1872-74), then in England, UK - in Newcastle
upon Tyne (1874-79) and in Bristol (1879-88). During this time he wrote
the novels for which he is best remembered, attempting to bring about
social reform in Portugal through literature by exposing what he held
to be the evils and the absurdities of the traditional order. His first
novel, "O crime do Padre Amaro" (1875; "The Sin of Father Amaro",
1962), describes the destructive effects of celibacy on a priest of
weak character and the dangers of fanaticism in a provincial Portuguese
town. A biting satire on the romantic ideal of passion and its tragic
consequences appears in his next novel, "O Primo Basílio" (1878;
"Cousin Bazilio", 1953). Caustic satire characterizes the novel that is
generally considered Eça de Queiroz' masterpiece, "Os Maias (1888; "The
Maias", 1965), a detailed depiction of upper middle-class and
aristocratic Portuguese society. His last novels are sentimental,
unlike his earlier work. "A Cidade e as Serras" (1901; "The City and
the Mountains", 1955) extols the beauty of the Portuguese countryside
and the joys of rural life. Eça de Queiroz was appointed consul in
Paris in 1888, where he served until his death. Of his posthumously
published works, "Contos" (1902) is a collection of short stories, and
"Últimas Páginas" (1912) includes saints' legends. Translations of his
works persisted into the second half of the 20th century.