Manuel Lopes Fonseca, better known as Manuel da Fonseca (15 October 1911 in

Santiago do Cacém Santiago do Cacém () is a municipality in Setúbal District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 29,749, in an area of 1059.69 km2. The present mayor is Álvaro Beijinha, elected by the Unitary Democratic Coalition. The municipal holiday ...

– 11 March 1993), was a Portuguese writer and poet.

Life and career

Fonseca grew up during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, which affected him greatly. He was a boxing champion in college. Fonseca also had a son. Fonseca wrote both novels and poems, largely centering around the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

region of Portugal in which he was born. His first poem, published in 1940, was entitled "Rosa dos Ventos", and his best-known novel, ''Cerromaior'', was adapted into a film by

Luís Filipe Rocha Luís Filipe Rocha (born 16 November 1947) is a Portuguese film director, screenwriter and actor. He has directed ten films since 1976. His film '' Cerromaior'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. Fi ...

. His works include: * ''Rosa-dos-Ventos'' (1940) * ''Planície'' (1941) * ''Aldeia Nova'' (1942) * ''Cerromaior'' (1943) * ''Casa no Vento'' (1950) * ''O Fogo e as Cinzas'' (1951) * ''Poemas Completos'' (1958) * ''Seara de Vento'' (1958) * ''Un Anjo no Trapézio'' (1968) * ''Tempo de solidão'' (1969) * ''Obra poética'' (1984) * ''Crónicas Algarvias'' (1986)

References

1911 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Portuguese writers People from Setúbal District 20th-century Portuguese male writers {{Portugal-bio-stub