Eça de Queiroz

Eça de Queirós is a famous Portuguese writer, born November 25, 1845, in Povoa de Varzim. At age 16 he went to Coimbra to study law.

His first works, published as a feuilleton in the Gazeta de Portugal magazine, appeared in a collection after he died entitled Prosas Bárbaras (Barbaric prose).

In 1869 and 1870, de Queirós travelled to Egypt and watched the Suez Canal being opened, which inspired several of his works, most notably O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra (The Mistery of Sintra road) from 1870 and A relíquia (The relic), only published in 1887. When he was later dispatched to Leiria to work as a municipal administrator, de Queirós wrote his first real-life Portuguese novel, O Crime do Padre Amaro (Father Amaro's Crime), which appeared in 1875.

Apparently, de Queirós spent the most productive years of his life in England, as a Consul of Portugal in Newcastle and Bristol. He then wrote some of his most important works, including O Desastre da Rua das Flores (The Disaster on Flower Street) and A Capital! (Capital!), written in a savvy fantastic yet realist prose. His most quoted works, Os Maias (The Maias) and O Mandarim (The old mandarin), was written in England as well.

He died in 1900. His works were translated in abour 20 languages, including English.