Castelo Branco, Camilo, viscount of Correia Botelho

Castelo Branco, Camilo, viscount of Correia Botelho

(born March 16, 1825, Lisbon, Port.—died June 1, 1890, Seide) Portuguese novelist. An orphan from a family with a tendency to insanity, he studied medicine and theology before beginning to write. While imprisoned for eloping with another man's wife, he wrote his best-known work, Amor de perdição (1862; “Fatal Love”), about a thwarted love that leads to crime and exile. His 58 novels, many mirroring his passionate life, range from Romantic melodrama to realism. His best works include O romance d'um homem rico (1861; “The Love Story of a Rich Man”) and O retrato de Ricardina (1868; “Portrait of Ricardina”). Ennobled in 1885, he committed suicide five years later.