One of the most idiosyncratic writers of the Portuguese nineteenth century, Camilo is often remembered more for his colourful biography, his intense attachment to the conservative rural north of Portugal, and his prodigious command of the Portuguese language than he is for the intrinsic quality of his literary production. Yet he was and remains a writer of enormous influence on the Portuguese literary scene: it is a little-known fact that one of the first acts of José Saramago when he returned to Portugal after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998 was to go to Camilo’s house in S. Miguel de Ceide and record his homage to his predecessor in the book of honour kept there.
Camilo was born in Lisbon in March 1825, the illegitimate child of a wealthy father and (probably) his
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Citation: Frier, David. "Camilo Castelo Branco". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 November 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12603, accessed 24 November 2024.]
