
Xavier Marques (born Francisco Xavier Ferreira Marques) was a
Brazilian journalist, politician, novelist, poet, biographer and essayist. He was born on the island of
Itaparica, BA, on December 3, 1861, and died in
Salvador, BA, on October 30, 1942.
He began primary education in his hometown but soon moved to the city of
Salvador, enrolling in the school of Canon Francisco Bernardino de Sousa. In the Bahian capital, he dedicated himself to journalism, an activity that was only interrupted by his political work. He served two legislative terms: State Representative in Bahia, from 1915 to 1921, and Federal, from 1921 to 1924.
His
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
''Boto and Company'' (1897) was followed by the novel ''Jana e Joel'' (1899), considered his best work. His fiction has been termed regionalist, set as it is in the province of
Bahia
Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...
. He won several literary awards, including an award from 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 Tuesday, ...
, in 1910, for the novel ''Sargento Pedro''.
He was the second occupant of Chair 28 in the
Academia Brasileira, to which he was elected on July 24, 1919, in succession to
Inglês de Sousa. He was received into the Academy by
Goulart de Andrade on September 17, 1920.
Bio
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References
{{Authority control
Brazilian writers
1861 births
1942 deaths
People from Itaparica Island