Famous Portuguese Writers

Fernando Pessoa was a Portuguese poet, writer, translator, and publisher. A prolific writer, he is considered one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. While he mostly wrote in the Portuguese language, he also wrote in English and French occasionally. Besides writing under his own name, he also wrote under approximately 75 other names.

José Saramago was a Portuguese writer who was honored with the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature. Saramago's books have sold more than two million copies in Portugal alone and have been translated into 25 languages. Among other awards, Saramago has also been honored with the Camões Prize and America Award. He is also credited with establishing the José Saramago Foundation.

Luís de Camões was a Portuguese poet whose mastery of verse often draws comparison to that of Homer, Shakespeare, Milton, and Dante. He is best remembered for his 1572 epic poem Os Lusíadas. Camões had such a great impact that Portuguese is sometimes referred to as the language of Camões. He is considered the Portuguese language's and Portugal's greatest poet.

Orlando da Costa was a Portuguese writer best remembered for his works that express his experiences in Goa, India. He is also known as the father of the current Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa.

Rui de Noronha was a Mozambican poet best remembered as the forefather of modern Mozambican poetry. His dream of publishing a book of poems was never realized during his lifetime as he died at the age of 34. However, Dr. Domingos Reis Costa collected and revised 60 of his poems and published a posthumous edition titled Sonetos in 1946.

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was a Portuguese writer and poet whose remains have been entombed since 2014 in the National Pantheon. Her poetry has been translated into many world languages, including English. Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen's life and career inspired a 1969 documentary short film, which was director João César Monteiro's first completed film.

Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese writer best remembered for his work The Book of Duarte Barbosa, which is one of the oldest paradigms of Portuguese travel literature. Barbosa was part of the first voyage to circumnavigate the world in 1519. Barbosa is also remembered for his work as a scrivener in Kochi, India, where he was an interpreter of Malayalam.

António Lobo Antunes is a Portuguese novelist whose works have been translated into over 30 labguages. Some of his best-known books include Fado Alexandrino and O Manual dos Inquisidores. António Lobo Antunes is a recipient of several prestigious awards like the Austrian State Prize, Ovid Prize, Camões Prize, and Juan Rulfo Prize. He also contributes as a columnist for Visão.

José Maria de Eça de Queirós was a Portuguese writer and novelist. Widely regarded as the greatest exponent of literary realism in the Portuguese language, Eça's works have been translated into many languages, including English. Many of his works have also been adapted into films, TV series, and theatrical plays.

Almeida Garrett was a Portuguese poet, playwright, novelist, orator, journalist, and politician. He is widely regarded as the most important figure of Portuguese Romanticism. Garrett was also a humanist and great revolutionary. A peer of the realm, Almeida Garrett proposed the creation of the Conservatory of Dramatic Art and the construction of the Queen Maria II National Theatre.

Fernão Mendes Pinto was a Portuguese writer and explorer. He is best remembered for his autobiographical memoir titled Pilgrimage, which depicts his voyages. He is known for his voyages to the east, especially to India. Although the historical accuracy of his work is often debated, many aspects of his voyages, such as his work with Jesuit missionaries, can be verified.

Camilo Castelo Branco was a Portuguese writer who wrote more than 260 books, which include novels, plays, and essays, during an illustrious writing career that spanned more than three decades. Best remembered for his peculiar wit, Camilo Castelo Branco was made a viscount for his contributions to literature in 1885. Some of his works have been adapted into films.

Gil Vicente was a Portuguese poet and playwright. He is considered the principal dramatist of Portugal and one of the greatest playwrights in Western literature. He is also renowned for his work in the Spanish language and is referred to as the Father of Spanish and Portuguese drama. Vicente is also counted among the leading figures of the Portuguese Renaissance.

José Rodrigues dos Santos is a Portuguese novelist, journalist, and university lecturer. He is best known as one of the presenters of the flagship television newscast of RTP, Telejornal. Since the 2000s, José Rodrigues dos Santos has been one of the best-selling authors in Portugal, having sold several historical fiction and thriller novels.

Duarte Pacheco Pereira was a Portuguese soldier, sea captain, explorer, and cartographer. He is best remembered for his voyages to the Cape Verde islands, West Africa, and India. Duarte Pacheco Pereira is also remembered for his extraordinary accomplishments in strategic warfare, mathematics, exploration, and astronomy.

Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage was a Portuguese poet who also served in the Portuguese Navy. He is best remembered for his modinhas, which are short, rhyming poems often sung with a guitar. He is also remembered for his interesting lifestyle as he had numerous love affairs.

Alexandre Herculano was a Portuguese historian and novelist. He is often credited with introducing Romantic literature to Portugal. An important historian, Alexandre Herculano enjoyed national recognition similar to that of France's Victor Hugo.

Antero Tarquínio de Quental was a Portuguese philosopher, writer, and poet. Widely regarded as one of the most influential and prominent Portuguese language writers of all time, De Quental is also often counted among the greatest poets of his generation. His works are often compared to that of Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, Luís Vaz de Camões, and Fernando Pessoa.

Miguel Torga was a Portuguese writer best remembered for his poems and short stories. Considered a master of short stories, Torga is also widely regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest Portuguese writers. Miguel Torga was honored with several prestigious awards such as the Prémio Diário de Notícias, Prémio Internacional de Poesia, Prémio Camões, and Montaigne Prize.

Multi-dimensional Portuguese artist José de Almada Negreiros is best known for his distinctive designs for book covers, stamps, and posters. He had also penned poems, novels, essays, and plays. Though he wished to be classified as a futurist artist, his works didn’t have a fixed genre.

Portuguese navigator and explorer Diogo Gomes is known for his West African voyage, which he took up on the orders of Prince Henry the Navigator. Though he claimed to have discovered the Cape Verde Islands, it had already been discovered by Alvise Ca’da Mosto in 1456.

Mário de Sá-Carneiro was one of the major figures of the Geração D'Orpheu, the Portuguese literary movement that brought in Modernism in Portuguese literature, and also launched the revue Orpheu. He later faced a financial crisis, began leading a bohemian life, and eventually committed suicide.

Antônio José da Silva was a Portuguese dramatist best remembered for his comedies and operas. His works showcased the problems prevalent in 18th century Portugal in a satirical manner. Antônio José da Silva's life and career inspired a 1996 film titled The Jew.

Portuguese chess player Pedro Damiano was initially a pharmacist. He is perhaps best known for his book Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti. He is associated with the Damiano Checkmate and the famous aphorism “If you see a good move, try to find a better one.”

Portuguese author Agustina Bessa Luís is best remembered for her novels such as A Sibila. Her style of writing mingled the concepts of space and time and was often known as metaphysical. Many of her novels were made into films, while she was also bestowed with awards such as the Camões Prize.

Portuguese naval officer João de Castro not only served as the viceroy of Portuguese India but also contributed to the science of navigation immensely, with three pilot books. He also later discovered that the ship’s compass needle deviates due to the magnetism of iron objects.

Miguel Sousa Tavares is a Portuguese writer, journalist, and lawyer. He is best known for his literary fiction Equador, which is based on the life of a governor of São Tomé e Príncipe. Equador sold more than 220,000 copies in 2003 and was counted among the best-selling books in Portugal. Miguel Sousa Tavares also contributes to publications like A Bola.

Jose dos Santos Ferreira was a Portuguese writer who wrote poetry, prose, operettas, radio shows, and plays. Born to a Cantonese mother and a Portuguese father, José was the last noteworthy poet to write in Macanese patois, the Portuguese-Cantonese creole. José dos Santos Ferreira is also remembered for writing, directing, and acting in his own productions.

Portuguese author Cesário Verde was a pioneer of using colloquial language in Portuguese poetry. He left his studies to lead a bohemian life and later became a fruit farmer. Most of his works depict the countryside. Following his death, quite a few of his poems were released by his friend Silva Pinto.

Though Portuguese poet António Feliciano de Castilho lost his eyesight at age 6, that never stopped him from writing, and he later emerged as a classical scholar. He was one of the major figures of the Portuguese Romantic movement and was known for his works such as Quadros Históricos de Portugal.

Portuguese poet João de Deus is best known for his iconic book Cartilha Maternal and for redefining Portuguese Romantic poetry. Though a law graduate, he later focused on writing and soared to fame with volumes such as Loose Leaves. Constantly riddled with financial issues, he also took up various menial jobs.

Portuguese poet Eugénio de Andrade is best remembered for his works inspired by surrealism, haiku, and Greek poetry. The Camões Prize winner has also been the Ministry of Health inspector in Oporto for over 30 years. His best-known works include As Mãos e os Frutos and Adolescente.

Born to poor parents in Portugal, José Luandino Vieira later moved to Angola with his parents. His works showcased the mixture of Kimbundu and Portuguese, which gave rise to a peculiar language of the musseque, or people of the African quarters. His stories reflected the injustice of the Portuguese occupation of Angola.

Leonor de Almeida Portugal, Marquise of Alorna was a Portuguese noblewoman, poet, and painter. One of the best known exponents of the Portuguese Neoclassic and Neoclassicism, Leonor was recognized as one of Europe's most prominent literary figures at the time. 

Portuguese poet Camilo Pessanha was not just a qualified lawyer but also taught in a high school in China. He is credited with being a pioneer of Symbolism in Portuguese poetry and was also an advisor to a number of governors. Known to be eccentric, he also collected Chinese art.

Portuguese author Jorge de Montemor is best known for his Spanish-language pastoral romance The Seven Books of the Diana. Though he studied music in his early days, he later also served in the army. He was apparently killed in a love feud in the Piedmont.

Ramalho Ortigão was a Portuguese writer best remembered for his contributions to several literary magazines. He is also credited with creating a monthly publication called As Farpas, which was considered a launching pad for critical journalism in Portugal. Ramalho Ortigão also worked as a translator and is renowned for translating Edward Jenkins' Ginx's Baby into Portuguese.

Vergílio Ferreira was a Portuguese writer, professor, and essayist. Thanks to his prolific literary output, Ferreira is often considered a prominent figure in Portuguese-language literature. Vergílio Ferreira was honored with the prestigious Camões Prize in 1992. An annual literary prize, which is given by the Municipality of Gouveia, is named after him.

Aquilino Ribeiro was a Portuguese diplomat and writer. He is best remembered for his 1958 novel Quando os lobos uivam, which was translated into English by Patricia McGowan Pinheiro in 1963. Regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest Portuguese novelists, Aquilino Ribeiro received a Nobel Literature Prize nomination in 1960. 

José Cardoso Pires was a Portuguese author who wrote novels, short stories, political satire, and plays. Many of his works, including his best-known novel O Delfim, were adapted into films. One of the most influential and important Portuguese writers of his generation, José Cardoso Pires was honored with several awards including the Latin Union Prize for Literature and Prémio Pessoa.

António Ferreira was a Portuguese poet best remembered for his tragedy Castro, the first of its kind in Portuguese. Castro was only the second tragedy ever written in modern Europe. António Ferreira is also remembered as the principal representative of Francisco de Sá de Miranda's classical school of literature.

Portuguese civil servant Guerra Junqueiro is remembered as the poet of the 1910 Portuguese Revolution. Initially a student leader, he later penned poems with socialist themes. His best-known works include The Old Age of the Eternal Father and The Simple Ones. Though he was against religious dogma, he eventually embraced Catholicism.

Teixeira de Pascoaes was a Portuguese poet whose works earned him five nominations for the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature during his lifetime. He is best remembered for publishing a magazine called A Águia. Considered one of the most prominent contemporary thinkers of Portugalidade and Saudade, De Pascoaes is also one of the most revisited and interpreted authors from Portugal.

Garcia de Resende was a Portuguese poet, draftsman, chronicler, editor, musician, and architect. He is best remembered for his work, The Cancioneiro Geral, a compilation of poems from the 15th and 16th centuries. Garcia de Resende is also remembered for serving as a private secretary under the Portuguese King John II. 

António Nobre was a Portuguese poet best remembered for his magnum opus Só, a collection of poems. Só was the only work published during his lifetime and two other works of his were published posthumously. His contribution to literature was honored by erecting a monument for him in Leça da Palmeira.

Francisco de Sá de Miranda was a Portuguese poet. He is credited with introducing various classical poetic forms, such as the sonnet, the eclogue, the elegy, and the ottava rima, to Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking regions. In addition to poems, Francisco de Sá de Miranda also wrote a couple of theatrical comedies.

Bernardim Ribeiro was a Portuguese writer and poet. He is best remembered for his pastoral romance Menina e moça, which is counted among the finest paradigms of pastoral romance in Renaissance literature. The book, which was published after Bernardim Ribeiro’s death, became a sensation in Portuguese-speaking countries.

David Mourão-Ferreira was a Portuguese poet and writer. He is regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest contemporary Portuguese poets. Mourão-Ferreira also wrote scripts for TV shows and contributed immensely to newspapers and magazines, such as Diário Popular and Seara Nova. David Mourão-Ferreira is also credited with co-founding the literary magazine, Távola Redonda.