Murilo Monteiro Mendes (May 13, 1901 – August 13, 1975) was a Brazilian

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

poet, considered to be one of the forerunners of the

Surrealist movement Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

in Brazil.

Biography

Mendes was born in

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (; ), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 census the current population is 54 ...

, in the Brazilian state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, on May 13, 1901. He subsequently moved to

Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...

in order to finish his high school, and settled in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

afterwards. Mendes alleges that two happenings of his life inspired him to become a poet: the sighting of

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet is the only known List of periodic comets, short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after ...

in 1910, and a performance of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer

Vaslav Nijinsky Vaslav or Vatslav Nijinsky (12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish ancestry. He is regarded as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Nijinsky was celebrated for his virtuosity and f ...

he attended in 1917. Between 1924 and 1929, Mendes published his first poems in the

magazines ''Antropofagia'' and ''Verde''. His first poetry book, simply called ''Poemas'', was published in 1930; it won the Graça Aranha Prize. His second poetry book, ''Bumba-Meu-Poeta'', was released shortly afterwards, and in 1933, Mendes published ''História do Brasil''. Since the 1920s Mendes was very close friends with Modernist painter Ismael Nery; Nery painted a portrait of Mendes in 1922, and also influenced him to convert himself to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(Mendes was previously an

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

). Nery died in 1934, leaving Mendes confused and saddened; this, along with his newly found faith, influenced the writing process of his book ''Tempo e Eternidade'', written in conjunction with Jorge de Lima and published in 1935. Until 1935 he worked as a telegrapher and as a bookkeeper. In 1936 he became a school inspector, and in 1946 he became a

scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could literacy, read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying w ...

. In 1947 he married Maria da Saudade Cortesão, but they would not have any children. From 1953 onwards Mendes would travel around

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, settling in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1957, where he became a teacher of Brazilian literature in the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

, and later in the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

. Around this time, Mendes' works started to be translated and published in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and Italy. Having moved to Portugal, Mendes received the Prémio Internacional de Poesia Etna-Taormina in 1972, and after a short visit to Brazil, he returned to Europe and published his last book, ''Retratos-Relâmpago'', in 1973. Two years later, in 1975, Mendes died in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. After his death, Mendes' library of some 2,800 works was donated to the Federal University of Juiz de Fora by his widow. This forms the basis of the collection of the Museu de Arte Murilo Mendes (MAMM), inaugurated in 2005 in Juiz de Fora.

Works

* ''Poemas'' (1930) * ''Bumba-Meu-Poeta'' (1930) * ''História do Brasil'' (1933) * ''Tempo e Eternidade'' (1935 — co-written by Jorge de Lima) * ''A Poesia em Pânico'' (1938) * ''O Visionário'' (1941) * ''As Metamorfoses'' (1944) * ''O Discípulo de Emaús'' (1944) * ''Mundo-Enigma'' (1945) * ''Poesia-Liberdade'' (1947) * ''Janela do Caos'' (1948) * ''Contemplação de Ouro Preto'' (1954) * ''Tempo Espanhol'' (1959) * ''Poliedro'' (1962) * ''A Idade do Serrote'' (1968) * ''Convergência'' (1972) * ''Retratos-Relâmpago'' (1973)

References

External links

Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Mendes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes, Murilo 1901 births 1975 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Brazilian Roman Catholics People from Juiz de Fora Brazilian male poets Modernist poets Surrealist poets 20th-century Brazilian poets 20th-century Brazilian male writers