Nélida Piñon Nélida Piñon (3 May 1937 – 17 December 2022) was a Brazilian

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

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. At the time of her death, Piñon was "considered among the foremost writers in Brazil today".

Life

Nélida Cuiñas Piñon was born in 1937 in the middle class

Vila Isabel Vila Isabel is a middle-class neighbourhood in the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Known for being one of the cradles of samba in Brazil, it is located in the subprefecture of Grande Tijuca (:pt:Grande Tijuca, pt). ...

area of

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 ...

to Olivia Carmen Cuíñas Piñón, a homemaker and Lino Piñón Muíños, a merchant. Her mother was the child of Galician immigrants, her father a first generation Galician immigrant. She studied at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro before working as a journalist for the newspaper ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the leading daily newspaper in the country and the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Ir ...

'' and the magazine ''Cadernos Brasileiros''. She has taught writing in workshops and institutions including

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

and the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, where she had been the

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Professor of

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. Her first novel was ''Guia-Mapa de Gabriel Arcanjo'' (The Guidebook of Archangel Gabriel), written in 1961. It concerns a protagonist discussing Christian doctrine with her guardian angel. In the 1970s, she became noted for erotic novels ''A casa de paixão'' (The House of Passion), published in 1972, and ''A força do destino'' (The Force of Destiny), published in 1977. In 1984, she had perhaps her greatest success with ''A República dos Sonhos'' (The Republic of Dreams). The work involves generations of a family from Galicia, who emigrated to Brazil, which stemmed from her own family's experience. Among other distinctions, Piñon was awarded the 1995

FIL Award The FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages (''Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances'', previously the Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature) is awarded to writers of any genre of literature (poetry, novels, plays, s ...

and the 2005

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

for literature. She also was the President of ''

Academia Brasileira de Letras The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL; English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literature, literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation ...

'' (Brazilian Academy of Letters) from 1996 to 1997, and occupied the José Bonifácio Chair of Iberoamerican Affairs of the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

in 2015. She received

Spanish citizenship The Spanish nationality legal framework refers to all the laws, provisions, regulations, and resolutions in Spain concerning nationality. Article 11 of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes ...

in 2021 from the Royal Decree. Piñon died on 17 December 2022, at the age of 85, 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 ...

Books

* ''Guia-Mapa de Gabriel Arcanjo'' (The Guidebook of Gabriel Arcanjo) (1961) * ''Fundador'' (Founder) (1969) * ''A Casa da Paixão'' (The House of Passion) (1972) * ''A força do destino'' (The Force of Destiny) (1977) * ''The Republic of Dreams'', tr. Helen Lane, University of Texas Press (1991), * ''A doce canção de Caetana'' (Caetana's Sweet Song) (1987) * ''Tebas do meu coração'' (1997) * ''Vozes do Deserto'' (2006) * ''Coração Andarilho'' (2009) * ''Livro das Horas'' (2012) * ''Filhos da América'' (2016) * ''Uma Furtiva Lágrima'' (2019) * ''Um dia Chegarei a Sagres'' (2020)

Short stories

* ''I love my husband''. * ''Big-Bellied Cow'' * ''O Pão de Cada Dia''

Awards

* Walmap Prize, 1970, for her historical novel, 'Fundador' (Founders) * Mario de Andrade Prize, 1973, from the Association of Arts Critics in São Paulo for her novel, "A casa de paixão" * Brazilian Writers’ Union Prize, 1987 *

, 1995. *

Menéndez Pelayo International Prize The Menéndez Pelayo International Prize has been awarded since 1987 by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) with the objective of honoring those persons whose literary or scientific work has a humanistic orientation and application, ...

, 2003 * Puterbaugh Conference on World Literature honoree, 2004 *

, 2005

References

External links