Sá de Miranda, Francisco de

Sá de Miranda, Francisco de (fränsēsh`kō də sä də mērän`dä), 1481–1558, Portuguese writer. A noble and a courtier, he lived for a time in Italy and became acquainted with the literature of the Italian Renaissance. He was impressed by the new classic style and introduced it to Portugal on his return. His sonnets and other Italian-patterned poems, written in Portuguese and in Spanish, are disillusioned and moralistic. Two comedies, Estrangeiros [strangers] (1559) and Vilhalpandos (1560), laid the foundation for the Portuguese classical theater.