José Cândido de Carvalho was a Brazilian writer born in
Campos dos Goytacazes
Campos dos Goytacazes () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 471,737 inhabitants.
Location
Campos dos Goytacazes has an area of 4,032 km2 (1,557 s ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
on August 5, 1914. His novel ''O Coronel e o Lobisomem'' (English: ''The Colonel and the Werewolf'') was the basis for a TV series and feature film. He died on August 1, 1989.
Early life
The son of a farmer, he started working in the school holidays at a sugar refinery. On leaving school he became a reviewer with various local newspapers eventually becoming editor of ''O Liberal'' (English: ''The Liberal''). He graduated in law from the
University of Rio de Janeiro
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...
in 1937, but soon abandoned the profession.
Career
His first novel was ''Look at the sky, Frederico!'' published in 1939. He moved to the city of Rio de Janeiro where he worked for various newspapers and in radio until shortly before his death in 1989.
From 1957 he was working on ''O Cruzeiro'' (English: ''The Cruise'') and in 1964 published his second novel, ''The Colonel and the Werewolf'', a bestseller with more than fifty five editions to date (2012). Considered one of the great novels of Brazilian literature, it was subsequently published in Portugal and translated into English, Spanish, French and German. The book also won the 1965
Prêmio Jabuti (English ''Tortoise Prize''), the Luísa Coelho Neto and Claudio de Sousa award.
When he died he was working on his third novel, The King Belshazzar, which remains unfinished.
Brazilian Academy of Letters and Funarte
In 1974 he was elected to a position on the
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 ...
, occupying chair 31 from 1974 until his death in 1989. The Academy is composed of 40 members, known as "immortals", chosen from among the citizens of Brazil, who have published recognized works or books of literary value. In 1975, he was elected the first President of
Funarte, a foundation linked to the Ministry of Culture created to foster and fund the arts. He remained in the position until 1981.
References
External links
*
Locus Magazine obituary
1914 births
1989 deaths
Brazilian monarchists
Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
Brazilian male novelists
Brazilian journalists
People from Campos dos Goytacazes
20th-century Brazilian novelists
20th-century Brazilian male writers
20th-century journalists
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