Alexandre Herculano

Alexandre Herculano

Alexandre Herculano de Carvalho e Araujo (born March 28, 1810 in Lisbon , Portugal , † September 18, 1877 in Vale de Lobos , Portugal) was a Portuguese scholar, historian, writer, storyteller, politician, editor, poet, and novelist. He is generally considered to be the founder of Portuguese romanticism .

Life

Alexandre Herculano was born in Lisbon in 1810 and participated early in the struggle against the absolute monarchy, which drove him into exile in England and France for a year. In 1832 he returned from exile. He founded the magazine O Panorama (1837 to 1839), which was the leading cultural magazine in Portugal at the time.

From 1840 he was politically active and was a member of the Cortes. His hobby was education policy. At the same time he was appointed head of the Ajuda Royal Library the year before.

His work consists of stories, novels, poems and historical books that show the beginning of Portuguese romanticism in a very classic way and made him Portugal's leading exponent in this field.

Despite social recognition, Herculano died of suicide in Vale de Lobos in 1877 after spending the last few years of his life largely in isolation.

Works (selection)

• A voz do profeta (The Voice of the Prophet), 1836, poetry.
• O monge de Cister, 1841, novel.
• O Bobo, 1842, novel.
• Eurico, o presbítero (Eurich, priest of the Goths), 1844, novel.
• Eurico: The presbyter. 2014: Books on Demand
• Lendas e narrativas (Legends and Stories), 1839–1844.
• Sagas and stories. 2 volumes, 2014: Books on Demand
• História de Portugal (History of Portugal), 1846–1851.
• História da origem e estabelecimento da inquisição em Portugal (History of the Inquisition in Portugal), 1854–1859.
• Editor of the series "Portugalia monumenta historiae" from 1856.

Web links

Commons : Alexandre Herculano  - collection of images, videos and audio files