Paulo Coelho

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Paulo Coelho (2013)

Paulo Coelho de Souza [ ˈpau̯lu kuˈɛʎu ] (born August 24, 1947 in Rio de Janeiro ) is a Brazilian writer and bestselling author . His most famous novel The Alchemist has been translated into 81 languages. Paulo Coelho's books have sold over 225 million copies so far (as of May 2020). In addition to his literary successes, Coelho is known for his experiences with psychiatry and the military dictatorship in Brazil as well as for his spiritual search and development. He lives with his second wife Christina Oiticica, with whom he has been married since 1981, in Geneva , Switzerland .

Life

Childhood and youth

Paulo Coelho was born into a middle-class Brazilian family in Rio de Janeiro on August 24, 1947. His father Pedro is an engineer , his mother Lígia (Lygia) a housewife. He has a younger sister named Sônia Maria. Paulo Coelho's life was shaped by religion from the start. As a seven-year-old boy he attended the Colégio Santo Inácio Jesuit school in Rio de Janeiro, where he received a prize in a school poetry competition. Coelho studied law against the wishes of his father, who would have liked to see him in his footsteps as an engineer, but interrupted his studies in 1970 to go on a two-year world tour through South America , North Africa and Europe as a hippie .

Coelho's subsequent work as a playwright and screenwriter, as well as his drug use during this time, were sharply condemned by his strictly Catholic and conservative parents. His rebellious rebellion against his parents' ideas and goals led them to believe that their son was deranged . They admitted him to the psychiatric institution “Casa de Saúde Dr. Eiras ”(1966, 1967 and 1968), where he was also treated with electroconvulsive therapy . He later described the experience of inpatient psychiatric treatment in his novel Veronika decides to die .

1970-1979

Coelho was and is politically active. Together with the musician Raul Seixas , Coelho became a member of the anti-capitalist “Alternative Society” in 1973 , which propagated freedom and self-determination and in which magical rituals were practiced. During this time Coelho got involved in a comic series called "Kring-ha", which also advocated more freedom in the Brazilian state ruled by the military . The military regime arrested the two men in 1974 because of the possible danger of forming an opposition .

Between 1974 and 1976 he wrote provocative lyrics with Raul Seixas, among others . A total of sixty-five rock songs were created , which enjoyed great popularity in Brazil. He wrote other texts for Rita Lee , Elis Regina and Maria Bethânia . Coelho was always interested in a wide variety of alternative life models and views, including the ideas and rites of Hare Krishna and Wicca . In 1977 he left Brazil and moved to London with his first wife for a year , where he tried unsuccessfully as a writer. After returning to Brazil the following year, he worked for three months as a senior executive at the record labels Columbia Broadcasting System and PolyGram . He also worked for a short time as an editor for a music magazine and its own underground magazine. After three months, he abruptly ended his professional ambitions and separated from his first wife.

1980-1989

On a trip through Europe Coelho visited the Dachau concentration camp with his girlfriend and later second wife, the painter Christina Oiticica . He reported having had a vision there in which a man appeared to him who he met two months later in a café in Amsterdam . In conversation this convinced him to find his way back to the Catholic faith and to go on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela . According to his own account, Coelho lived from 1980 to 1985 in an old Spanish order called “Tradition” to study the Christian symbolic language ; also according to his own account it was an order called "RAM" with Catholic origin, which was founded in 1492 without an official seat. (However, RAM = "Regnus Agnus Mundi" is correct Latin only under the condition that "Regnus" is a proper name, and would then be called "Regnus, the lamb of the world" in German.) His ascent of the Way of St. James in 1986 - an experience which he understands as the turning point in his life - as well as the RAM exercises Coelho processed in the book of the same name On the Way of St. James - diary of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela , which appeared a year later.

In 1988 a second book followed, entitled The Alchemist . Here he processed the eleven years of alchemical studies in the form of a symbolic text, a parable. Of the first edition, however, only nine hundred copies were sold, whereupon the publisher parted with him.

Coelho continued to pursue his goal of success as a writer tenaciously. When a major publisher, Editora Rocco, became interested in his work, the book Brida was published in 1990 . The work received a lot of attention from the press and helped the other two books to the top of the bestseller lists. The alchemist was included in the Guinness Book of Records as it blew sales in Brazil.

1990-1999

In May 1993, the American publisher HarperCollins was launched under the direction of John Loudon with a first edition of fifty thousand copies of the alchemist . This breakthrough in the USA marked the beginning of his worldwide success. In Hollywood , several production companies were interested in the rights, which Warner Brothers acquired in 1993 . In various countries the book reached the bestseller lists and was even a. best-selling book of the year in France .

In 1994 the book I sat and cried on the banks of the Rio Piedra was published in Brazil , which cemented Coelho's international reputation. In this work he turned to his feminine side. Two years later he was awarded the prestigious Super Grinzane Cavour and Flaiano International awards in Italy . With his next novel, The Fifth Mountain , Coelho moved to Editorial Objetiva. In the same year he was appointed special representative of the UNESCO project for intercultural dialogue ("Convergences spirituelles et dialogues interculturels").

A year later, his handbook of the warrior of light , a collection of parable stories and maxims , was published. In 1998 the novel Veronika decides to die followed . Coelho completed a successful tour, first through Asia , and then in autumn a second tour through almost all the countries of Eastern Europe , which began in Istanbul with the Orient Express and took him via the Bulgarian capital Sofia to the Latvian Riga .

In 1999 he received the prestigious Crystal Award of the World Economic Forum in Davos . In the same year Coelho was accepted into the Legion of Honor by the then French Minister of Culture, Philippe Douste-Blazy .

From 2000

In May 2000, Coelho visited at the invitation of the International Center for Dialogue among Civilizations (International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations) to Iran . His fifth novel The Demon and Miss Prym was published in September . In the same year he was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship .

In 2001 Coelho received the Bambi , the most popular German media award. On July 25, 2002, the greatest award for Brazilian writers followed: He was elected a member of the venerable Academia Brasileira de Letras based in Rio de Janeiro , which has set itself the task of cultivating the Portuguese language . With an inaugural speech, in which he pleaded for utopias and a strong belief, he took up his post at the academy on October 28, 2002. In Germany in the same year he received the Planetary Consciousness Award of the Club of Budapest in Frankfurt am Main and the international book prize Corine for fiction in Munich . Earlier this year, Coelho had traveled to China for the first time , where he visited Shanghai , Beijing and Nanjing . On the occasion of the international book fair in Bogotá , he then traveled to Colombia for the first time , then to Russia , Mexico and the Scandinavian countries , where he a. a. Visited Tanum , Oslo , Helsinki and Stockholm .

In June 2005, on the occasion of the English presentation of his novel Der Zahir , the author expressed his displeasure that the producers of Warner Brothers had still not managed to film the novel The Alchemist , although the studio had owned the rights since 1993. The studio did not want to sell the rights back to Coelho for four times the original retail value, i.e. one million dollars , nor did they accept the script draft by actor and director Laurence Fishburne , which the Brazilian had expressly welcomed.

Paulo Coelho (2008)

He donated part of his fortune to his self-established foundation "Instituto Paulo Coelho". With an annual budget of four hundred thousand dollars, Coelho helps favelas , needy children and old people and supports the translation of Brazilian literature into other languages. He also donated considerable sums to children's hospitals and other institutions abroad. On September 21, 2007, he was appointed Ambassador of Peace by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon . With his institute, which Coelho founded together with his wife, the international bestselling author has been campaigning for the underprivileged population in Brazil for years.

Social media

With over 15 million followers on Twitter and over 29 million likes on Facebook, Coelho is the writer with the largest fan base on social media. He is also u. a. also represented on Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr.

Paulo Coelho Foundation

In addition to the Paulo Coelho Foundation ( Portuguese Fundação Paulo Coelho e Christina Oiticica , English Foundation Paulo Coelho & Christina Oiticica ), based in Geneva, the Brazilian author has created a virtual foundation platform. By November 2014, Paulo Coelho uploaded around 80,000 documents - manuscripts, diaries, photos, letters to the editor, newspaper clippings.

Anima Mundi

Coelho's view of the world soul (Anima Mundi) , which can be experienced in all appearances of the world, was shaped during his five-year stay in the above-mentioned Spanish order. Coelho firmly believes in signs that happen to him every day. He interprets them as clues for himself and adjusts his further actions accordingly. One example is the white pen that he has to find before he can start a new book. The author illustrates this understanding of the mysticism of signs throughout his publication.

Coelho's worldwide commitment to more tolerance and diversity, his commitment to civic engagement and the creation of a better future can be interpreted as an immanent and consistent continuation of this view of the world soul.

Works

Publishing year

(Original)

Publishing year

(the German edition)

Original title

(Portuguese)

German title publishing company

(the German edition)

ISBN

(the German edition)

1984 - O Manifesto de Krig-há - - -
1984 - Teatro da Educação - - -
1982 - Arquivos do Inferno - Self-published -
1986 - O Manual Prático do Vampirismo - - -
1987 1991 O Diário de um Mago The sacred secrets of a magician: 12 initiations on the Camino de Santiago Publishing house Peter Erd , Munich ISBN 3-8138-0228-0
1995 The magician's sword: 12 initiations on the Camino de Santiago Publishing house Peter Erd , Munich ISBN 3-8138-0365-1
1999 On the Camino de Santiago. Diary of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-23115-6
1988 1991 O Alquimista. Editora Rocca The treasure of the pyramids Publishing house Peter Erd , Munich ISBN 3-8138-0208-6
1996 The alchemist Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06126-9
1990 2008 Brida Brida Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-24026-9
1991 - O Dom Supremo - - -
1992 2011 As Valkírias Guardian Angel Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06767-5
1994 1997 Na margem do Rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei I sat and cried on the bank of the Rio Piedra Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06148-X
1994 1998 Maktub (columns) The Wanderer: Stories and Thoughts Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-70132-2
2004 On the way / The hiker. Collected stories Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-05700-8
1996 1998 O Monte Cinco The fifth mountain Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06164-1
1997 - Letras do amor de um profeta - - -
1997 2001 Manual do guerreiro da luz Manual of the Warrior of Light Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06277-X
1998 - Palavras essenciais - - -
1998 2000 Veronika decide morrer Veronika decides to die Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06235-4
2000 2001 O Demônio ea Srta Prym The demon and Miss Prym Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06282-6
2003 2003 Onze minutos. Editora Rocco Eleven minutes Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06373-3
2005 2005 O Zahir The Zahir Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06464-0
2006 2006 Ser Como o Rio que Flui. Relatos (1998-2005) Be like a river that flows silently through the night. New Stories and Thoughts 1998–2005 Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 3-257-06542-6
2006 2007 A bruxa de Portobello The witch of Portobello Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06600-5
2008 2009 Vencedor está só The winner remains alone Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06719-4
2010 2012 O Aleph. Edition sextant Aleph Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06810-8
2012 2013 Manuscrito Encontrado em Accra The Accra Writings Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06848-1 .
2013 2014 Adultério infidelity Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06908-2
2016 2016 A Espiã The spy Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06977-8
2017 2017 O Caminho do Arco The way of the arch Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-06948-8
2018 2018 hippie hippie Diogenes , Zurich ISBN 978-3-257-07049-1

About the works

Coelho's books are autobiographical ; he himself visited the landscapes and countries described on his travels. Coelho usually writes in simple, unadorned language. He uses original symbols, metaphysical elements and Christian mysticism in fairytale-like parables , parables and fables . He always works biblical and spiritual elements into the context. His topics are, among other things, the love for another person in contrast to the love for oneself, the search for the meaning of life as well as the spiritual self-discovery , which he attaches to the motto "Realize your dream".

reception

Success and sales

Paulo Coelho achieved international fame with his novel The Alchimist , which has so far appeared in over 81 languages ​​and has sold around 85 million copies. Since then Coelho has been one of the most successful bestselling authors worldwide: his books have been translated into over 81 languages, appeared in over 170 countries and have sold over 225 million copies to date.

criticism

In literary criticism and feature articles, Coelho's work tends to be viewed negatively or even “passionately hated”, often with the accusation that Coelho presents himself as a literary-esoteric guru. For example, Andreas Bernard writes in the Süddeutsche Zeitung : "Coelho's poetic method is well known and so often treated with malice by literary criticism that he even published an entire novel a few months ago to justify himself," and explains himself Coelho's huge success in reducing the complexities of modern life to simple and stable truths. The critic Denis Scheck described the author as a "nonsense oath", "undisputed king of esoteric trash", "very cheap esoteric dealer" and, most recently, as "a single cell of devotional literature crawled out of the proto-literary primal slime". The review of Der Zahir in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit reads : "After the painful hours of reading, I am richer in two certainties: Millions of readers can be wrong and: My first Coelho will be my last."

The difference in the reception of critics and readers is also thematized in many other reviews: while in the critics his work is often rated “as clichéd and trivial”, Coelho can boast a huge readership.

Daniel Kehlmann has a Brazilian bestselling author appear in his novel Ruhm , who is clearly to be understood as a parody of Coelho and a criticism of his work. This successful writer of esoteric help books begins to doubt his naive, spiritual optimism (“The only thing that helps us are cozy lies”) and thinks about killing himself.

Others

The Zahir was confiscated at the 18th Tehran International Book Fair in Iran for no reason.

In 1999 Coelho made some of his books available for download free of charge on his website, and since 2005 he has been doing this on the “Pirate Coelho” website that he operates. Since his works became more widely known in this way, the official sales figures in the bookstores also rose, and the publishers tolerated the download option. Coelho stated that it would be wiser to "take advantage of new technology to support and distribute good literature."

In September 2006, Der Alchimist in Vienna received the Platinum Book , a prize based on the campaign Die Platin-Schallplatte from the Central Association of the Austrian Book Trade for 50,000 or more (in this case: over 200,000) copies sold.

Awards

  • 1993: Distinctive Art Encounter Award, Brazil
  • 1995: Literature Prize from Elle magazine , France
  • 1996: Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres , France
    • Super Grinzane Cavour des Premi Internazionali Flaiano, Italy
    • Premio Internazionale Flaiano, Italy
    • Golden Book Prize, Yugoslavia
  • 1997: Order of Honor, Spain
    • Golden Book Prize, Yugoslavia
    • Finalist of the International IMPAC Literature Award, Ireland
  • 1998: Honorary Member of the Order of Rio Branco , Brazil
    • Diploma of the Brotherly Order of the Sun Cross, Brazil
    • Merit to Human Rights, Brazil
    • Sarah Kubitscheck Prize, Brazil
    • Medal of Honor of the City of Paris , France
    • Prize of Ljubljana (Golden Book), Slovenia
    • Contribution to the 17th book of Istanbul , Turkey
    • Persepolis Achaemenian Soldié, Iran
  • 1999: Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland
    • Golden Medal of Galicia on Jacob's Day (July 25th) for Coelho's services to the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
    • Award from Zagreb (Golden Book), Croatia
  • 2000: Chevalier de L'Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur , France, on the recommendation of Jacques Chirac
    • The Crystal Mirror Award from Warsaw , Poland
    • Golden Book Prize, Yugoslavia
    • Finalist of the International IMPAC Literature Award, Ireland
  • 2001: Prize for Literature Premio Fregene, Italy
    • Bambi for culture, Germany
  • 2002: October 6th Planetary Consciousness Award from the Club of Budapest
    • October 28th Member of the Academia Brasileira de Letras , Brazil
    • Corine - International Book Prize for Fiction for The Alchemist , Munich, Germany
    • Global Awareness, Literature Prize, France
  • 2003: Guinness World Record ™ for most different translations signed in one hour (53 editions of ›The Alchemist‹ at the Frankfurt Book Fair).
    • Official Medal for Arts and Literature, France
  • 2004: Giovanni Verga Extraordinary Literature Prize for a non-Italian author, Italy
    • Official Arts and Literature Medal for The Alchemist , Great Britain
    • Vecernje Novosti newspaper's bestseller award for the greatest journalistic distribution, Serbia
    • Bookplate price for Eleven Minutes , Serbia
    • Order of Honor of Ukraine (Golden Book), Kiev , Ukraine
    • Order of St. Sophie, Medal for Special Merits in Science and Art, Ukraine
    • Golden Nielsen Book Prize for The Alchemist , Great Britain
  • 2005: Golden feather , honorary award for literary achievement from the Bauer publishing group, Germany
    • Hans Christian Andersen Ambassador on the occasion of the 200th birthday of the Danish writer, Denmark
    • DirectGroup International Author Award, Berlin, Germany
    • Budapest Grand Prize, Award of the International Literature Festival in Budapest, Hungary
  • 2006: Platinum book from the main association of the Austrian book trade , for 10 years Der Alchimist
    • Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for Der Zahir
    • 3rd place in the literature, novels, and fiction category of the Austrian Audience Award Buchliebling for the novel Der Zahir , Austria
    • Kiklop Literature Prize for Der Zahir , in the Hit of the Year category, Croatia
    • Las Pergolas, new literary award from Mexican booksellers (ALMAC), Mexico
    • I Premio Álava en el Corazón, Spain
  • 2007: UN Ambassador for Peace through UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
    • Special Counselor for Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences, Office at UNESCO.
    • EMPiK's Ace for The Witch of Portobello , Award for the best-selling book in international literature, Poland
    • Hans Christian Andersen Literature Prize
  • 2008: Best International Writer, Literature Prize at the ELLE Awards, Spain
  • 2009: Guinness World Record ™ for most translations of the same book ( The Alchemist ).
  • 2014: An asteroid named after him: (12355) Coelho

Movies

literature

  • Juan Arias: Las confesiones del peregrino. Editorial Planeta, Barcelona 1999.
    • German edition: Confessions of a Seeker. Juan Arias in conversation with Paulo Coelho. Translated from the Spanish by Maralde Meyer-Minnemann. Diogenes, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-257-23294-2 .
  • Fernando G. de Morais: The Magician. The biography of Paulo Coelho. Diogenes, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-257-06752-1 .

Web links

Commons : Paulo Coelho  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paulo Coelho. In: Diogenes Verlag. Retrieved May 21, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Juan Arias: Confessions of a Seeker - Juan Arias in conversation with Paulo Coelho. Translated from the Spanish by Maralde Meyer-Minnemann. Diogenes, Zurich 2001, p. 18.
  3. ↑ a b c d Paulo Coelho. In: Who's Who. Retrieved November 13, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Biografia. Academia Brasileira de Letras , accessed January 18, 2016 (Portuguese).
  5. ↑ Fernando G. de Morais: The Magician - The biography of Paulo Coelho . Diogenes, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-257-06752-1 , p. 69 .
  6. ^ The author Paulo Coelho turns 65. In: Mittelbayrische. August 21, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Der Spiegel, 26/2005, p. 164.
  8. ↑ Paulo Coelho on Twitter
  9. ↑ Paulo Coelho on Facebook
  10. ↑ See statistics on socialbakers.com for writers on Facebook (Coelho ranks first with 29,512,147 fans, followed by David Wolfe with 12,464,931 fans) and writers on Twitter (Coelho ranks second with 15,643,138 followers after Raditya Dika with 16,157 .460), accessed June 20, 2018
  11. ↑ Wind Machine of Bliss in Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on January 13, 2013, page 40.
  12. ↑ Paulo Coelho: "I was ready to die". In: Frankfurter Rundschau . October 19, 2011.
  13. ^ Alan Riding: Paulo Coelho: Writing in a global language In: The New York Times . August 30, 2005.
  14. ↑ Andreas Bernard: The Principle Paulo Coelho In: Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, issue 36/2005.
  15. ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung (Mainz) (only available for subscribers): ARD book guru Denis Scheck about verrisse, difficult books and JRR Tolkien
  16. ↑ Hot off the press
  17. ↑ The Florian Schroeder Satireshow, broadcast on December 17, 2019, guest: Denis Scheck
  18. ↑ Klaus Nüchtern : When readers are wrong. In: The time . August 11, 2005.
  19. ^ Press review of Eleven Minutes in Perlentaucher (2003).
  20. ↑ Sabine Tenta: Daniel Kehlmann's "Ruhm". Goethe-Institut , January 2009, archived from the original on May 10, 2010 ; accessed on January 8, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Daniel Kehlmann: Fame. Hamburg, 2009. p. 129.
  22. ↑ paulocoelhoblog.com ( Memento from January 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Pirate Coelho - Coelho's blog + download links for his books (as of June 4, 2007)
  23. ↑ Paulo Coelho: Bans Are Seldom a Solution Why Successful Writers Benefit from Electronic Media. In: Berliner Zeitung . December 30, 2009, accessed June 16, 2015 .
  24. ↑ - ( Memento from June 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  25. ↑ http://www.un.org/apps/news/newsmakers.asp?NewsID=27
  26. ↑ - ( Memento from June 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ^ Não Pare na Pista: A Melhor História de Paulo Coelho (2014). In: IMDb. Retrieved October 22, 2015 .
  28. ↑ Paulo Coelho - My Life (2011). In: IMDb. Retrieved November 13, 2012 .
  29. ↑ Veronika decides to die (2009). In: IMDb. Retrieved November 13, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Coelho, Paulo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coelho de Souza, Paulo (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian writer and best-selling author
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Rio de Janeiro