Fernando Pessoa

Fernando Pessoa
Portrait of Pessoa 1914
Portrait of Pessoa 1914
BornFernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa
(1888-06-13)13 June 1888
Lisbon, Portugal
Died30 November 1935(1935-11-30) (aged 47)
Lisbon, Portugal
Pen nameAlberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos, Ricardo Reis, Bernardo Soares [pt], etc.
Occupation
  • Poet
  • writer
  • translator
  • philosopher
LanguagePortuguese, English, French
Alma materUniversity of Lisbon
Period1912–1935
GenrePoetry, essay, fiction
Literary movementModernism
Notable worksMensagem (1934)
The Book of Disquiet (1982)
Notable awards
  • Queen Victoria Prize (1903)
  • Antero de Quental Award (1934)
PartnerOphelia Queiroz (girlfriend)
Signature
"Fernando Pessoa"

Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa (Portuguese: [fɨɾˈnɐ̃du pɨˈsoɐ]; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, and publisher. He has been described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language. He also wrote in and translated from English and French.

Pessoa was a prolific writer both in his own name and approximately seventy-five other names, of which three stand out: Alberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos, and Ricardo Reis. He did not define these as pseudonyms because he felt that this did not capture their true independent intellectual life and instead called them heteronyms, a term he invented.[1] These imaginary figures sometimes held unpopular or extreme views.

  1. ^ Ciuraru, Carmela. "Fernando Pessoa & His Heteronyms". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 1 June 2024.