Francisco Gomes de Amorim

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Portrait on a postcard, 1900s.

Francisco Gomes de Amorim (born August 13, 1827 in Averomar, Póvoa de Varzim district , Portugal , † November 4, 1891 in Lisbon ) was a Portuguese writer. The representative of Portuguese romanticism was active as a novelist , poet and playwright .

Life

Francisco Gomes de Amorim was born the son of poor farm workers. When he was ten, he emigrated to Brazil in the hope of a better life . He first worked in Pará for a merchant, later he worked as a commercial assistant and cashier in Belém , also Pará.

By reading the volume of poetry Luís de Camões by Almeida Garrett , the autodidact was confronted with literature for the first time and began - inspired by this - to write his first poems at the age of 15. He later had a lifelong and deep friendship with Almeida Garrett and with Joaquim Pedro de Oliveira Martins .

His stay in Brazil had a strong influence on him and also flowed directly or indirectly into his literature: He learned some indigenous languages from the Indian peoples of the Amazon , he was fascinated by the nature of the Amazon and often found in the Sertão (hinterland) to find the to observe and research the animals and plants there.

After returning to Portugal in 1846, he worked in various commercial professions before he was given his position as librarian at the Ministry of the Navy in 1859. During this time he began to work regularly on his literary work, which is indebted to romanticism. In the course of the European revolutions of 1848/1849 he wrote several political poems that did not exist in this form in Portugal: A liberdade (Freedom), A queda da Hungria ( The fall of Hungary ) and Garibaldi about the Italian freedom fighter . The best-known magazines he wrote for were O Panorama and Revista Universal Lisbonense. His play Ghigi from 1852 was a success when it was performed in Lisbon and made him known in Portugal. The main themes of his literature, besides Brazil and the longing of the exile , were love and freedom.

In his later years he devoted himself to editing the memoirs of his friend Almeida Garrett, which appeared in 1881. For his commitment to Almeida Garrett, he received the Premio Dom Fernando of the Academy of Sciences in Lisbon.

Francisco Gomes de Amorim was married to Maria Luisa da Silva Barbosa and had six children. At the end of his life he was one of the few social climbers in Portuguese society in the 19th century.

Work (selection)

  • Ghigi. 1852, play.
  • Os Selvagens. 1852, novel.
  • Ódia de Raça. 1854, play.
  • O cedro vermelho. 1856, play.
  • Cantos Matutinos. 1858, poetry.
  • Fígados de Tigre. 1857, play.
  • Efémeros. 1866, poems.
  • Aleijões sociais. 1870, play.
  • O remorso vivo. 1876, novel.
  • Frutas de Vario Sabor. 1876, short stories.
  • Cupid da Pátria. 1878, novel.
  • Garrett. Memórias Biográficas. 1881–1884, Almeida Garrett, Memoirs (as editor ).

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personal data
SURNAME Amorim, Francisco Gomes de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Amorim, Francisco G. de; DeAmorin, Francisco Gomes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese writer
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Averomar, Póvoa de Varzim County , Portugal
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1891
Place of death Lisbon