Fernando Pessoa

Pessoa, Fernando 

Born June 13, 1888, in Lisbon; died there Sept. 30, 1935. Portuguese poet.

Pessoa entered the faculty of philology at the University of Lisbon in 1905. He did not complete his studies there but devoted himself to journalism and literature. In 1915 he became the head of Orpheu, a group of modernist poets. During Pessoa’s life only one of his verse collections, Mensagem (1933), was published. Posthumously such collections as Poesias de Álvaro de Campos (1944), Poemas de Alberto Caeiro (1946), and Odes de Ricardo Reis (1946) appeared.

Pessoa’s poetic mastery and his ability to convey the most subtle nuances of thought and feeling made him one of the most important Portuguese poets.

WORKS

Obras completas, vols. 1-5. Lisbon, 1942–46.
Obra poética. Rio de Janeiro, 1960.

REFERENCES

Prado Coelho, J. do. Diversidade e unidade en Fernando Pessoa. Lisbon, 1949.
Simõ es, J. G. Vida e obra de Fernando Pessoa, vols. 1-2. Lisbon [1950].
Silva, A. da. Um Fernando Pessoa. Portalegre, 1959.
Moreira Duarte, J. A. Fernando Pessoa e os caminhos da solidão. Belo Horizonte, 1968.
Sacramento, M. F. Pessoa—poeta da hora absurda, 2nd ed. Porto, 1970.

E. A. RIAUZOVA