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Camilo Castelo Branco, 1st Viscount of Correia Botelho (; 16 March 1825 – 1 June 1890), was a prolific Portuguese writer of the 19th century, having produced over 260 books (mainly novels, plays and essays). His writing is considered original in that it combines the dramatic and sentimental spirit of
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
with a highly personal combination of
sarcasm Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection ...
, bitterness and
dark humour Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
. He is also celebrated for his peculiar wit and anecdotal character, as well as for his turbulent (and ultimately tragical) life. His writing, which is centred in the local and the picturesque and is in a general sense affiliated with the Romantic tradition, is often regarded in contrast to that of
Eça de Queiroz José Maria de Eça de Queiroz (; 25 November 1845 – 16 August 1900) is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London ''Observer'', ...
– a cosmopolitan
dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...
and a fervorous proponent of Realism, who was Camilo's literary contemporary in spite of being 20 years younger. In this ''tension'' between Camilo and Eça – often dubbed by critics ''the literary guerrilla'' – many have interpreted a synthesis of the two great tendencies present in the Portuguese literature of the 19th century. Allegations that he was initiated in
Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
in 1846, are somewhat contradictory as there are indications that, around the same time, during the
Revolution of Maria da Fonte The Revolution of Maria da Fonte, or Revolution of the Minho, is the name given to a popular revolt in the spring of 1846 against the Cartista government of Portugal (presided over by António Bernardo da Costa Cabral, 1st Marquess of Tomar). ...
, he fought in favor of the
Miguelist In the history of Portugal, a Miguelist (in Portuguese ''Miguelista'') was a supporter of the legitimacy of the king Miguel I of Portugal. The name is also given to those who supported absolutism as form of government, in opposition to the libe ...
s as "helper to the orders of the Scottish General Ranald MacDonell", who was active in the revived
Order of Saint Michael of the Wing The Royal Equestrian and Military Order of Saint Michael of the Wing ( la, Regia Equitum et Militum Ordo Sancte Michaelis Sive de Ala, pt, Real Ordem Equestre e Militar de São Miguel da Ala) is a Portuguese Roman Catholic dynastic order that i ...
precisely to combat Masonry. Similarly, much of his literature demonstrates his ideals of legitimism and as a conservative and Catholic traditionalist.


Biography

Camilo was born out of wedlock and orphaned in infancy, although his origins lay ultimately in Northern Portugal's provincial aristocracy (his father, Manuel Joaquim Botelho Castelo Branco, was the son of an illustrious household in the environs of
Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality cover ...
, but lived in near-poverty due to the strict law of primogeniture which then largely excluded younger sons from inheritance). Camilo spent his early years in a village in Trás-os-Montes, where he was educated at home by three unmarried aunts. At the age of 13, he enrolled at the Catholic seminary of nearby Vila Real, where he was educated by Catholic priests. During his teenage years, he fell in love with the poetry of
Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns, ; c. 1524 or 1525 – 10 June 1580) is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespear ...
and
Manuel Maria Barbosa de Bocage Manuel Maria Barbosa l'Hedois du Bocage (15 September 1765 – 21 December 1805), most often referred to simply as Bocage, was a Portuguese Neoclassic poet, writing at the beginning of his career under the pen name ''Elmano Sadino''. Biography ...
, while
Fernão Mendes Pinto Fernão Mendes Pinto (; c.1509 – 8 July 1583) was a Portuguese explorer and writer. His voyages are recorded in ''Pilgrimage'' ( pt, Peregrinação) (1614), his autobiographical memoir. The historical accuracy of the work is debatable due t ...
gave him a lust for adventure. In spite of this interest in literature, and of his remarkable abilities in
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, Camilo was a distracted student and grew up to be undisciplined and proud. From the age of 17 to his early 20s, he intermittently studied medicine and theology in
Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
and
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
and eventually chose to become a writer. After a spell of journalistic work in
Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
and Lisbon he proceeded to the episcopal seminary in Oporto in order to study for the priesthood. During this period Camilo wrote a number of religious works and translated the work of
François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...
. Camilo actually took minor holy orders, but his restless nature drew him away from the priesthood and he devoted himself to literature for the rest of his life. He was arrested twice; the first time for having unearthed the remains of his first wife (whom he had married at the age of 16, and who had died at 24) and the second due to his adulterous affair with
Ana Plácido Ana Plácido (1831—1895) was a Portuguese novelist and author. Her best known work is the 1871 novel ''Herança de Lágrimas'' (English: ''A Legacy of Tears''), and she is also noted for an autobiographical book ''Luz Coada por Ferros'' (Engli ...
, who was married at the time. His first period of incarceration was short, apparently thanks to the intervention of Teixeira de Queiroz, an influential judge and, coincidentally, father of the renowned José Maria de Eça de Queiroz. During his second and longer incarceration he wrote what most consider to be his best and most characteristic work ''Amor de Perdição''. Later this phase of his life would also inspire him to write his ''Memórias do Cárcere'' (literally "Memories of Prison"), in which he describes the meanders of the then miserable and overcrowded prison of Relação, at the centre of
Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
, intertwined with intimate ramblings of the imagination and biographical fragments. Camilo was made a viscount (Visconde de Correia Botelho) in 1885 in recognition of his contributions to literature, and when his health deteriorated and he could no longer write, parliament gave him a pension for life. In 1886, he wrote "Esboço de crítica: Otelo, o Mouro de Veneza". Going blind (because of syphilis) and suffering from chronic nervous disease, Castelo Branco committed suicide with a revolver in 1890, while sitting in his now-famous wooden
rocking chair A rocking chair or rocker is a type of chair with two curved bands (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs, connecting the legs on each side to each other. The rockers contact the floor at only two points, giving the occupant ...
.


Works

Camilo Castelo Branco is probably the most prolific of all Portuguese writers, his work including novels, plays, verse, and essays. In addition, Camilo was the first Portuguese writer able to support himself financially from his writing alone. In all, his publications number about five hundred and sixty, but he is best known for his novels. Even though Camilo churned out a lot of work to pay the bills, he never lost his individuality. His familiarity with personalities allowed him to enliven his writing with a succession of memorable characters and Portuguese types, such as the "brasileiro" (a returned Portuguese emigrant who had made his fortune in Brazil), the old "Fidalgo" (nobleman) of the north of Portugal, and the Minho priest. Camilo's novels may be divided into three periods. The first period comprises his romances of the imagination, of which ''Os Mistérios de Lisboa'', in the style of
Eugène Sue Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated ''The Mysteries of Paris'', whic ...
, is a fair example. The second period includes his novels of manners, a style he developed and remained the chief exponent of until the appearance of ''O Crime de Padre Amaro'' by
Eça de Queiroz José Maria de Eça de Queiroz (; 25 November 1845 – 16 August 1900) is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London ''Observer'', ...
. In these novels he combines realism and idealism, and perfectly captures the domestic and social life of Portugal in the early part of the 19th century. The third period embraces his writings in the realms of history, biography and literary criticism. Among these may be cited ''Noites de Lamego'', ''Cousas leves e pesadas'', ''Cavar em ruínas'', ''Memórias do Bispo do Grão Pará'' and ''Boémia do Espírito''. Among the most notable of his romances are ''O Romance de um Homem Rico'', his favorite, ''Retrato de Ricardina'', ''Amor de Perdição'', the collection of novellas ''Novelas do Minho'' and ''A Brasileira de Prazins''. Many of his novels are autobiographical, like ''Onde está a felicidade?'', ''Memórias do Cárcere'' and ''Vingança''. Castelo Branco is an admirable story-teller, largely because he was a brilliant ''improvisatore'', but he does not attempt character study. He has a richness of vocabulary probably unmatched in all Portuguese literature, often using obscure words. At the same time, few Portuguese authors have demonstrated so profound a knowledge of the vernacular tongue. Though nature had endowed Camilo with a poetic temperament, his verses are considered to be mediocre, while his best plays are cast in bold lines and contain powerfully dramatic situations, and his comedies are a triumph of the grotesque, with a mordant tone reminiscent of the work of
Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...
.


Selected bibliography

* ''Anátema'' (1851) * ''Os Mistérios de Lisboa'' (1854) * ''A Filha do Arcediago'' (1854) * ''Livro Negro de Padre Dinis'' (1855) * ''A Neta do Arcediago'' (1856) * ''Onde Está a Felicidade?'' (1856) (English title: ''Where Is Happiness?'') * ''Um Homem de Brios'' (1856) * ''Lágrimas Abençoadas'' (1857) * ''Cenas da Foz'' (1857) * ''Carlota Ângela'' (1858) * ''Vingança'' (1858) * ''O Que Fazem Mulheres'' (1858) (English title: ''What Women Do'') * ''Doze Casamentos Felizes'' (1861) * ''O Romance de um Homem Rico'' (1861) * ''As Três Irmãs'' * ''
Amor de Perdição ''Amor de Perdição'' is a 19th-century Portuguese novel by Camilo Castelo Branco. Adaptations It has been adapted into several films, like Amor de Perdição (1979 film) and the 2009 film ''Doomed Love'', directed by Mario Barroso, and also ...
'' (1862) () (English title: ''Doomed Love'' (2000) – ; ''Love of Perdition'' (2016) – ) * ''Coisas Espantosas'' (1862) * ''O Irónico'' (1862) * ''Coração, Cabeça e Estômago'' (1862) * ''Estrelas Funestas'' (1862) * ''Anos de Prosa'' (1858) * ''Aventuras de Basílio Fernandes Enxertado'' (1863) * ''O Bem e o Mal'' (1863) * ''Estrelas Propícias'' (1863) * ''Memórias de Guilherme do Amaral'' (1863) * ''Agulha em Palheiro'' (1863) * ''Amor de Salvação'' (1864) * ''A Filha do Doutor Negro'' (1864) * ''Vinte Horas de Liteira'' (1864) * ''O Esqueleto'' (1865) * ''A Sereia'' (1865) * ''A Enjeitada'' (1866) * ''O Judeu'' (1866) * ''O Olho de Vidro'' (1866) * ''A Queda dum Anjo'' (1866) * ''O Santo da Montanha'' (1866) * ''A Bruxa do Monte Córdova'' (1867) * ''Os Mistérios de Fafe'' (1868) * ''O Retrato de Ricardina'' (1868) * ''Compêndio da vida e feitos de José Balsamo'', essay (1874) * ''A Caveira da Mártir'' (1876) * ''Novelas do Minho'' (1875–1877) * ''Eusébio Macário'' (1879) * ''A Corja'' (1880) * ''Luiz de Camões: Notas Biographicas (1880) * ''A Brasileira de Prazins'' (1882) (English title: ''The Brazilian Girl from Prazens'') * ''D. Luiz de Portugal: Neto do Prior do Crato 1601–1660'' (1883) * ''O Vinho do Porto'' (1884) * ''Esboço de Crítica – Otelo, o Mouro de Veneza'' (1886)


Film and television adaptations

*''
Amor de Perdição ''Amor de Perdição'' is a 19th-century Portuguese novel by Camilo Castelo Branco. Adaptations It has been adapted into several films, like Amor de Perdição (1979 film) and the 2009 film ''Doomed Love'', directed by Mario Barroso, and also ...
'' (1979) by Manoel de Oliveira *'' Um Amor de Perdição'' (2009) by Mario Barroso *'' Mistérios de Lisboa'' (2010) by Raúl Ruiz


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castelo Branco, Camilo 1825 births 1890 deaths People from Lisbon Portuguese male novelists Portuguese Roman Catholics Roman Catholic writers Suicides by firearm in Portugal Translators to Portuguese English–Portuguese translators French–Portuguese translators 19th-century translators 19th-century Portuguese writers 19th-century Portuguese novelists 19th-century male writers University of Porto alumni 1890s suicides