Antônio Houaiss ( or ; October 15, 1915 – March 7, 1999) was a Brazilian lexicographer, diplomat, writer and translator.
Early life
The son of
Lebanese immigrants, he was born in
Rio de Janeiro.
[(2012)]
Houaiss, Antonio
. Itaú Cultural Encyclopedia Online, last updated 24/feb/2012.[Vasco Mariz (1995), "Antônio Houaiss: uma vida." Ed. Civilização Brasileira]
Career
Houaiss began his career in Rio de Janeiro as a professor of the
Portuguese language, of which he eventually became a recognized authority.
[ He left teaching in 1945 for the diplomatic service and served the Brazilian government as such until the 1964 military coup, when he was forced to retire with loss of political rights. During that period he was Brazilian vice-]consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
and representative to the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
in Geneva, Switzerland (1947 to 1949); third secretary of the Brazilian Embassy in the Dominican Republic (1949 to 1951) and in Athens, Greece (1951 to 1953); member of the permanent Brazilian delegation to the United Nations in New York City (1960 to 1964).
Antônio Houaiss - Biografia
Website of the Academia Brasileira de Letras, accessed on 2012-12-28.Correio da Manhã
''Correio da Manhã'' () is a Portuguese daily newspaper from Portugal. Published in Lisbon, it is the most circulated daily newspaper in Portugal.
History and profile
''Correio da Manhã'' was established in 1979. The paper is based in Lisbon ...
(1964 to 1965). He joined the Brazilian Academy of Philology in 1960 and was elected a fellow of the exclusive Brazilian Academy of Letters
The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tue ...
in 1971, which he presided in 1996. He was the chief editor of the Brazilian encyclopedia Mirador. In 1990 he received the Moinho Santista Award. For 11 months, in 1992 and 1993, he served as the Minister of Culture under President Itamar Franco.[
He was also one of the chief proponents of the international unification for the orthography of Portuguese, a project that he had joined in 1985,][ and led to the 1990 spelling reform treaty, which he too did not live to see implemented.][Folha da Manhã (2009)]
Maior ideólogo da reforma ortográfica, Houaiss morreu sem ver resultado da obra
(Obituary). Folha Online, 2009-03-07.
Published works
He is the author of several books and many essays, commentaries and articles on linguistics and other subjects. He is best known for his translation of James Joyce's '' Ulysses'',[Antônio Houaiss (1966) "Ulisses" (Portuguese translation of James Joyce's ''Ulysses'', 1922). Editora Civilização Brasileira, 960 pages. .] and for supervising with Mauro de Salles Villar the creation of the Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa
The ''Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa'' (''Houaiss Dictionary of the Portuguese Language'') is a major reference dictionary for the Portuguese language, edited by Brazilian writer Antônio Houaiss.
The dictionary was composed by a team ...
,[Antônio Houaiss and Mauro Villar (2001),]
Grande Dicionário Houaiss Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa
". 3008 pages, Editora Objetiva,[Grande Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa]
Description and history of the book in the Editora Objetiva website. Accessed on 2012-12-18. one of the major reference dictionaries for the Portuguese language. The dictionary, which he started compiling in 1985, was completed and published (with more than 220,000 entries) only after his death, in 2001. The Antônio Houaiss Institute was created in 1997 to continue that work.[Instituto António Houaiss]
site. Accessed on 2012-12-27.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houaiss, Antonio
1915 births
1999 deaths
Brazilian people of Lebanese descent
Brazilian lexicographers
Brazilian translators
Hoauiss, Antonio
Translators to Portuguese
English–Portuguese translators
20th-century translators
Ministers of Culture of Brazil
20th-century Brazilian male writers
20th-century Brazilian writers
20th-century lexicographers