Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (6 November 1919 – 2 July 2004) was a Portuguese

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...

. Her remains have been entombed in the National Pantheon since 2014.

Life and career

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was born on 6 November 1919 in

Porto, Portugal 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 metropol ...

. She was the daughter of Maria Amelia de Mello Breyner and João Henrique Andresen. She had Danish ancestry on her father's side, notably her paternal great-grandfather, Jan Andresen, traveled alone to

Porto 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 ...

as a boy and never left the region. In 1895, Sophia's grandfather bought Quinta do Campo Alegre, now known as the Porto Botanical Garden, where he raised his family. As stated in a 1993 interview, the house and grounds were "a fabulous territory with a large and rich family served by a large household staff." Her mother, Maria Amelia de Mello Breyner, was the daughter of Tomás de Mello Breyner, Count of Mafra, a medical doctor of distant Austrian descent and friend of King D. Carlos. Maria Amelia is also the granddaughter of the capitalist Henrique Burnay, from a Belgian family living in Portugal, and future Count of Burnay. Sophia began her studies at the new Sacred Heart of Jesus College, at 1354 Avenida da Boavista, Porto, entering with the school's first class. Raised in a mix of bourgeois and old Portuguese aristocracy and educated with traditional Christian morality, she was leader of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

university movements while taking classes in

Classical Philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Class ...

at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

(1936-1939), which she never concluded. She collaborated with the magazine "Cadernos de Poesia", where she made friends with influential and well-known authors: Ruy Cinatti and

Jorge de Sena Jorge Cândido Alves Rodrigues Telles Grilo Raposo de Abreu de Sena (2 November 1919 – 4 June 1978) was a Portuguese-born poet, critic, essayist, novelist, dramatist, translator and university professor who spent the latter portion of his life ...

. In time, she became one of the most representative figures of a liberal political attitude, supporting the monarchic movement and denouncing President Salazar's regime and its followers. The song called "Cantata da Paz", became famous as an intervention song of the Progressive Catholics: "We see, hear and read. We cannot ignore!" In 1946, she married journalist, politician and lawyer Francisco Sousa Tavares (who she would divorce in 1985) and became mother of five children: a university literature professor, journalist and writer (

Miguel Sousa Tavares Miguel Andresen de Sousa Tavares (born Porto, 25 June 1952) is a Portuguese lawyer, journalist and writer. The son of poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen and lawyer and politician Francisco Sousa Tavares, Miguel received his education in Law, ...

), a painter and ceramist and one more daughter who became an occupational therapist and inherited her mother's name. Her children motivated her to write children's books. In 1964, Andresen received the Grand Prize of Poetry by the Portuguese Society of Writers for her book ''Livro Sexto''. After the Revolution of 25 April, she was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in 1975 by the Porto circle on a

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

list while her husband joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. Andersen won acclaim as a storyteller with ''Contos Exemplares'' (Exemplary Tales),"Histórias da Terra e do Mar" (Stories of Land and Sea), and a number of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

– ''A Menina do Mar'' ( The Sea Girl), ''O Cavaleiro da Dinamarca'' (The Danish Knight), ''A Floresta'' (The Forest), ''O Rapaz de Bronze'' (The Bronze Boy), ''

A Fada Oriana ''A Fada Oriana'' (), Portuguese for ''The Fairy Oriana'', is one of the most emblematic children's book of Portuguese literature, written in 1958 by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen. The main character is a fairy who was given the responsibility ...

'' (The Fairy Oriana). She also published several poetry books and anthologies, including: ''Poesia'', ''Dual'', ''Livro Sexto'', ''Coral'', ''Dia do Mar'', ''No Tempo Dividido'', ''Grades'', ''O Nome das Coisas'', ''As Ilhas'', ''Antologia'', ''Geografia'', ''Navegações'', ''O Búzio de Cós''. In 1999 she became the first woman to receive the highest Portuguese award for poetry, the Prémio Camões (

Camões Prize The Camões Prize (Portuguese, ''Prémio Camões'', ), named after Luís de Camões, is the most important prize for literature in the Portuguese language. It is awarded annually by the Portuguese ''Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bi ...

). She was also awarded the

Max Jacob Poetry Prize Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

,in 2001, and the Spanish Prémio Reina Sofia in 2003. Besides her work as a writer, she translated

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

into Portuguese.

Later years

Andresen died at the age of 84 on 2 July 2004 in Lisbon, at Pulido Valente Hospital. Initially, her body was buried in Carnide Cemetery, but on 20 February 2014 the Assembly of the Republic unanimously decided to honor the poet by entombing her remains in the Portuguese National Pantheon. The relocation ceremony took place on 2 July 2014.

Writing style

From her childhood and youth, she emphasized the importance of houses, and memories that had a great impact on her work, describing and recalling the houses and the objects inside them. She explained this as follows:

"I have a lot of visual memory and I always remember houses, room by room, furniture by furniture, and I remember many houses that have disappeared from my life... I try to 'represent', I mean, 'bring back the things I liked,' and that's what goes with houses: I want their memory not to drift, not to be lost."

Andresen also believed that poetry had a fundamental transformative value. Her writing corresponded to specific cycles, with the culmination of the activity at night: "I cannot write in the morning,... I need that special concentration that is being created at night." Her nightly experiences are underlined in several poems ("Night", "The Moonlight", "The Garden and the Night", "April Night", and "O Night"). She accepted the notion of inspired poetry, saying that her poetry happened to her, as it did with

Fernando Pessoa Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa (; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopher, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and ...

"Fernando Pessoa said: 'A poem has happened to me.' My fundamental writing is very close to this 'happening'. I found poetry before I knew there was literature. I really thought that the poems were not written by anyone, that they existed in themselves, that they were like an element of the natural, that they were suspended immanent. It is difficult to describe the process of writing a poem. There is always a part that I can't distinguish, a part that happens in the area where I don't see it."

According to Dulce Maria Quintela, Andresen's life and memories are an inspiration because she "speaks of herself through her poetry".

Early writings

Andresen began her love of poetry as a child when, at the age of three, she was taught "A Nau Catrineta" by her

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

Laura.

There was a maid in my house named Laura, whom I liked very much. She was a young, blonde woman, very beautiful. Laura taught me "''A Nau Catrineta"'' because there was an older cousin of mine who had been taught a poem to say at Christmas and she didn't want me to be left behind… I was a phenomenon, reciting the entire "Nau Catrineta". But there are more encounters, fundamental encounters with poetry: the recitation of the "''Magnífica''" on thunderstorms, for example. When we were a little older, we had a housekeeper who on those nights burned rosemary, lit a candle and prayed. It was a mixed environment of religion and magic… And in a way on those thunderstorms, many things were born. Even a certain social and human concern, or my first awareness of the harshness of the lives of others, because this housekeeper said: "Now fishermen walk in the sea, let us pray that they will reach the land" (...). "

Based on Luísa Pessoa's observations, Andresen focuses on themes such as: childhood and youth, which she uses as a reference space ("The Garden and the House", Poetry, 1944; "House", Geography, 1967; "White House", Poetry, 1944; "Lost Garden", Poetry, Garden and the Night, Poetry, 1944).

Later work

Contact with nature also profoundly marked her work. For the author, this contact became an example of freedom, beauty, perfection and mystery and is widely found in her work, whether by the allusions to the land (trees, birds, moonlight) or by her references to the sea (beach, shells, waves). The Sea is one of the key concepts in Andresen's literary creations: "From the Shore / Where It All Started Intact on the First Day of Me.""Sophia, a Lírica e a Lógica" ''in'' '' Colóquio : Revista de Artes e Letras'', nº 57, 1981 The literary effect of the sea's inspiration can be seen in several poems, such as "Men by the Sea" or "Women by the Sea." The author comments on this inspiration as follows:

"These poems have to do with the Granja mornings, the beach mornings. And also with a painting by
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
. There is a painting by Picasso called "Women by the Sea." No one will say that Picasso's painting and Lorca's poetry have had a tremendous influence on my poetry, especially in the time of the Choral ... And one of Picasso's influences on me was that I moved the images."

The sea is used to express the obsession with it, its beauty, its serenity and its myths. The sea appears here as a symbol of the dynamics of life. Everything comes from it and everything returns to it. It is the space of life, transformation and death. The city is another motif often repeated in Andresen's work. The city is viewed as negative space. It represents the cold, artificial, hostile and dehumanized world, the opposite of nature and security. Another frequently stressed topic in Andresen's work is time: the divided and the absolute that oppose each other. The first is the time of loneliness, fear and lies, while absolute time is eternal, unites life and is the time of moral values. According to Eduardo do Prado Coelho, the divided time is the time of the house's exile, associated with the city, because the city is also made by the twisting of time, the degradation. Andresen was an admirer of classical literature. In her poems, words often appear of ancient spelling (Eurydice, Delphos, Amphora). The cult for the proper art and tradition of

Greek civilization The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cultu ...

is close to her and shows through her work. In addition to the thematic aspects mentioned above, Fernando Pessoa's enormous influence on the work of Andresen is also present. What the two authors have in common is:

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's influence, the appeal to infinity, childhood memory, Sebastianism and

Messianism Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrianism religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions have messianism-related concepts ...

and the formal tone that evokes

Álvaro de Campos Álvaro de Campos (; October 15, 1890 – November 30, 1935) was one of the poet Fernando Pessoa's various heteronyms, widely known by his powerful and wrathful writing style. According to his author, this ''alter ego'' was born in Tavira, Portu ...

Themes

In general, the author's thematic universe is comprehensive and can be represented by the following summary points: * The pursuit of justice, balance, harmony and the demand for morality * Awareness of the time we live * Nature and the Sea - euphoric and referential spaces for any human being * The theme of the house * Love * Life as opposed to death * Childhood memory * Values of classical antiquity, Hellenic naturalism * Idealism and individualism at the psychological level * The poet as shepherd of the absolute *

Christian humanism Christian humanism regards humanist principles like universal human dignity, individual freedom, and the importance of happiness as essential and principal or even exclusive components of the teachings of Jesus. Proponents of the term trace the c ...

* Belief in Messianic and Sebastianist Values * Separation Regarding Andresen's language style, the most evident marks are: the

hieratic Hieratic (; grc, ἱερατικά, hieratiká, priestly) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BC until the ris ...

value of the word, the rigorous expression, the appeal to the clarifying vision, richness of symbols and

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

, synesthesias and an evocative rhythm of a ritual dimension. One can also notice a "transparency of the word in its relation of language to things, the luminosity of a world where intellect and rhythm harmonize in perfect, melodic form." The opinion of her work shared by some of the most important Portuguese literary critics is the same: the author's talent is unanimously appreciated.

Eduardo Lourenço Eduardo Lourenço de Faria GCSE, GCIH (23 May 1923 – 1 December 2020), best known as Eduardo Lourenço, was a Portuguese essayist, professor, critic, philosopher and writer. Early life Coming from a small village in Beira Interior, he is ...

says that Andresen has a wisdom "deeper than just knowing", that its intimate knowledge is immense and its reflection, however deep, is exposed in an original simplicity.

Legacy

In the

Lisbon Oceanarium The Lisbon Oceanarium ( pt, Oceanário de Lisboa, ) is an oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal. It is located in the '' Parque das Nações'', which was the exhibition grounds for the Expo '98. It is one of the largest indoor aquariums in Europe. Arch ...

, since 2005, some of Andresen's poems with a strong connection to the sea have been placed for permanent reading in the rest areas, allowing visitors to absorb the boldness of her writing while immersed in a deep sea environment. "Poetry," she explained, "is my understanding of the universe, my way of relating to things, my participation in reality, my encounter with voices and images. This is why a poem speaks not of an ideal life but of a concrete one: the angle of a window, the resonance of streets, cities and rooms, the shadow cast by a wall, a sudden face, the silence, distance and brightness of the stars, the night’s breath, the scent of linden and of oregano." The sea is probably the most central theme in her poetical works. Other recurring themes are Ancient Greece and ideas of freedom and justice. Her poetry has been translated into English by Ruth Fainlight, Richard Zenith and most recently by Colin Rorrison with

Margaret Jull Costa Margaret Elisabeth Jull Costa OBE, OIH (born 2 May 1949) is a British translator of Portuguese- and Spanish-language fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa, Paulo Coelho, Be ...

, as well as into many other world languages. A documentary short film about Andresen was produced in 1969. It was the first completed film by director

João César Monteiro João César Monteiro Santos (2 February 1939, in Figueira da Foz – 3 February 2003, in Lisbon) was a Portuguese film director, actor, writer and film critic. Life and career João César Monteiro was born into a family with anti-clerical ...

(then using the name João César Santos).

Bibliography

Poetry

* ''Poesia'' (1944, Cadernos de Poesia, nº 1,

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 ...

; 3.ª ed. 1975) * ''O Dia do Mar'' (1947,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, Edições Ática; 3.ª ed. 1974) * ''Coral'' (1950, Porto, Livraria Simões Lopes; 2.ª ed., illustrated por Escada, Lisboa, Portugália, 1968) * ''No Tempo Dividido'' (1954, Lisbon, Guimarães Editores) * ''Mar Novo'' (1958, Lisbon, Guimarães Editores) * ''Livro Sexto'' (1962, Lisbon, Livraria Morais Editora; 7.ª ed. 1991) * ''O Cristo Cigano'' (1961, Lisbon, Minotauro, ilustrado por Júlio Pomar) * ''Geografia'' (1967, Lisbon, Ática) * ''Grades'' (1970) * ''11 Poemas'' (1971) * ''Dual'' (1972, Coímbra Moraes Editores; 3.ª ed., Lisbon, Salamandra, 1986) * ''Antologia'' (1975) * ''O Nome das Coisas'' (1977, Lisbon, Moraes Editores) * ''Navegações'' (1983) * ''Ilhas'' (1989) * ''Musa'' (1994) * ''Signo'' (1994) * ''O Búzio de Cós'' (1997) * ''Mar'' (2001) - antologia organizada por Maria Andresen de Sousa Tavares * ''Primeiro Livro de Poesia'' (infanto-juvenil) (1999) * ''Orpheu e Eurydice'' (2001)

Poems not included in the cannon poetry work

* "Juro que venho para mentir"; "És como a Terra-Mãe que nos devora"; "O mar rolou sobre as suas ondas negras"; "História improvável"; "Gráfico", Távola Redonda - Folhas de Poesia, nº 7, July 1950. * "Reza da manhã de Maio"; "Poema", A Serpente - Fascículos de Poesia, nº 1, January 1951. * "Caminho da Índia", A Cidade Nova, suplemento dos nº 4–5, 3rd series, Coimbra, 1958. * "A viagem" ragmento do poema inédito "Naufrágio" Cidade Nova, 5th series, nº 6, December 1958. * "Novembro"; "Na minha vida há sempre um silêncio morto"; "Inverno", February - Textos de Poesia, 1972. * "Brasil 77", Loreto 13 - Revista Literária da Associação Portuguesa de Escritores, nº 8, March 1982. * "A veste dos fariseus", Jornal dos Poetas e Trovadores - Mensário de Divulgação Cultural, nº 5/6, 2nd series, March/April 1983. * "Oblíquo Setembro de equinócio tarde", Portugal Socialista, January 1984. * "Canção do Amor Primeiro", Sete Poemas para Júlio (

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...

, quota nº L39709), 1988. * "No meu Paiz", Escritor, nº 4, 1995. * "D. António Ferreira Gomes. Bispo do Porto"; "Naquele tempo" Dois poemas inéditos" ''Jornal de Letras'', 16 June 1999.

Fiction

Tales

* ''Contos Exemplares'' (1962, Lisbon, Livraria Morais Editora; 24.ª ed. 1991) * ''Histórias da Terra e do Mar'' (1984, Lisbon, Edições Salamandra; 3.ª ed., Lisbon, Texto Editora, 1989)

Children's books

* ''A Menina do Mar'' (1958) * ''A Fada Oriana'' (1958) * ''A Noite de Natal'' (1959) * ''O Cavaleiro da Dinamarca'' (1964) * ''O Rapaz de Bronze'' (1966) * ''A Floresta'' (1968) * ''O Tesouro'' (1970) * ''A Árvore'' (1985) * ''Os Ciganos'' (data não conhecida)

Theatre

* ''O Bojador'' (2000, Lisbon, Editorial Caminho) * ''O Colar'' (2001, Lisbon, Editorial Caminho) * ''O Azeiteiro'' (2000, Lisbon, Editorial Caminho) * ''Filho de Alma e Sangue'' (1998, Lisbon, Editorial Caminho) * ''Não chores minha Querida'' (1993, Lisbon, Editorial Caminho)

Essays

* "A poesia de Cecíla Meyrelles" (1956), ''Cidade Nova'', 4th series, nº 6, November 1956 * ''Cecília Meyrelles'' (1958), ''in'' Cidade Nova * ''Poesia e Realidade'' (1960), ''in'' ''Colóquio : Revista de Artes e Letras'', nº 8 * "Hölderlin ou o lugar do poeta" (1967), ''Jornal de Comércio'', 30 December 1967. * O Nu na Antiguidade Clássica (1975), ''in'' ''O Nu e a Ar''te, Estúdios Cor, (2.ª ed., Lisbon, Portugália; 3.ª ed.

evista Raloxifene, sold under the brand name Evista among others, is a medication used to prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and those on glucocorticoids. For osteoporosis it is less preferred than bisphosphonates. It is also used ...

Lisbon, Caminho, 1992) * "Torga, os homens e a terra" (1976), ''Boletim da Secretaria de Estado da Cultura'', Decembro 1976 * "Luiz de Camões. Ensombramentos e Descobrimentos" (1980), ''Cadernos de Literatura'', nº 5 * "A escrita (poesia)" (1982/1984), ''Estudos Italianos em Portugal'', nº 45/47

Andresen in English translations

*Marine Rose: Selected Poems tr. Ruth Fainlight (1987, Black Swan) *Log Book: Selected Poems, tr. Richard Zenith (1997, Carcanet) *The Perfect Hour, tr. Colin Rorrison with Margaret Jull Costa (2015, Cold Hub Press) https://www.facebook.com/ColdHubPress

Recording in the Library of Congress

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen reading from her own work (1985)

Awards and decorations

Awards

*In 1964: Grand Prize for Poetry by the Portuguese Writers Society for her book ''Livro Sexto'' (The Sixth Book). *In 1977: Teixeira de Pascoaes Prize for her book ''O Nome das Coisas'' (The Name of Things). *In 1983: Critics' Prize by the International Association of Critics for the full set of her work. *In 1989: King Diniz Prize by the Casa de Mateus Foundation for her book ''Ilhas'' (Islands). *In 1990: Grand Prize for Poetry by both Inasset/Inapa and Pen Club for her book ''Ilhas'' (Islands). *In 1992:

Calouste Gulbenkian Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (, Western hy, Գալուստ Կիւլպէնկեան; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955), nicknamed "Mr Five Per Cent", was a British-Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petrole ...

's Grand Prize for Literature for Children by the

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One ...

for the full set of her work. *In 1994: "Vida Literária" (Literary Life) Prize by the Portuguese Association of Writers. *In 1995: Honour Plaque of the

Petrarca Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

Prize by the Italian Association of Editors. *In 1998: Luís Miguel Nava Foundation Prize for her book ''O Búzio de Cós e Outros Poemas''. *In 1999: the

for Portuguese language literature. (She was the first woman to be awarded this prize.) *In 2003: the Reina Sofia Prize for writers of Portugal, Spain and Latin America.

Decorations

PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Officer BAR

Grand Officer of the

Military Order of Saint James of the Sword The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword ( pt, Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portuguese order of chivalry. Its full name is the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientif ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

(9 April 1981) * PRT_Order_of_Prince_Henry_-_Grand_Cross_BAR

Grand-Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

(13 February 1987) * PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Grand Cross BAR