Abel Botelho

Abel Acacio de Almeida Botelho (born September 23, 1855 in Tabuaço , Viseu district , † April 24, 1917 in Buenos Aires , Argentina ) was a Portuguese writer, diplomat, military and politician. As a writer, he was mainly active as a novelist and playwright. He wrote one of the first novels on the subject of homosexuality in Europe.

Life

Abel Botelho was born the son of the military Luis Carlos de Almeida Botelho and Maria Preciosa de Azevedo Botelho. At the age of twelve he became a half-orphan after his father died. From 1867 to 1872 he attended the Real Colegio Militar in Lisbon , hoping to start a military career as a cadet . He later attended the Escola Politecnica. He served in the military for the next few years and was made a colonel in 1906 .

He was also a member of the national parliament, in 1910 he became a member of the commission that was supposed to determine a new national flag for the young republic and ambassador of Portugal in Argentina from 1911 until his death in 1917.

He was married to a noblewoman from the Portuguese landed gentry who was around eleven years his senior, but the marriage remained childless.

In 1885, when he was about 30 years old, he began to pursue his literary inclinations and published a poem in an anthology . His poetry has appeared exclusively in anthologies and magazines, consisting primarily of sonnets , and is awaiting publication in book form. He was also able to live out his artistic streak as a painter; However, his pictures never achieved the importance and fame as his literary work. His publications in magazines were numerous, including important journals such as O Século, O Dia, O Occidente, a Illustração, Revista Literária and O Repórter. His work is considered naturalistic. It is also significant because it shows the social outsiders, the fallen, failed, broken livelihoods of Portuguese society at that time, such as the bohemians , beggars and homeless people, the disabled or even homosexuals. It is often called the "Zola of Portugal", based on the work of Émile Zola . To this day it is regarded as a mirror for the state of the Portuguese society of its time.

In 1923 the story "Mulheres da Beira" was filmed in Portugal.

The Barão de Lavos

In the novel "O Barão de Lavos" from 1891, the subject of homosexuality was brought up fairly openly for the first time in the literary history of Portugal . The plot is inspired by an aging aristocrat and baron who lets himself be carried away by sixteen-year-old Eugénio, a street prostitute, into a physical relationship. The work is also of sociological value with regard to the social situation of homosexuals in Portugal at that time and the scene there. The book is not pornographic, but only suggests the sexual relationship. Despite this clear subject, there is still no one hundred percent evidence that Botelho himself was homosexual. It is still unclear what prompted him to write this story. In it he presented homosexuality as a disease of the mind, which was favored mainly by wrong upbringing, but also by the circumstances of Lisbon society. In 1907 the work was translated into Spanish, no further translations have been made to this day. The book was reprinted a few more times in Portugal. Science assumes that there are three reasons why the work and its author were never at the mercy of right-wing extremists: on the one hand, despite the subject matter, they were still based on a heterosexual author, unlike something with António Botto and Raul Leal , who were both demonstrably homosexual, and secondly, his social position as a military, diplomat and politician protected him from further stalking. Furthermore, many conservatives see the work as a criticism of homosexuality, not a glorification. It is considered to be one of the first works that openly dealt with homosexuality in Europe.

Honors

In Tabuaço, the poet's hometown, many honors have been given to the author: there a school, a prize for young people, the public city park and even a football club bear the name of the author. Botelho is omnipresent there. In Lisbon and São Paulo one street is named after im.

Work (selection)

Germano, 1886, play.
Os vencidos de vida, 1892. (Those vanquished by life).
O Barão de Lavos, 1891, novel.
Amanha, 1901, novel. (Tomorrow).
Fatal Dilema, 1907, novel. (Fatal dilemma).
Amor Criulo (Vida Argentina), Study of Argentina, 1919, posthumously.

swell

personal data
SURNAME	Botelho, Abel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Botelho, Abel Acacio de Almeida
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Portuguese writer, diplomat, military and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	September 23, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tabuaço
DATE OF DEATH	April 24, 1917
Place of death	Buenos Aires , Argentina