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Almeida Garrett

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His Lordship

The Viscount of Almeida Garrett

ComCCavTE
A lithograph of Garrett, by Pedro Augusto Guglielmi
Alithographof Garrett, by Pedro Augusto Guglielmi
BornJoão Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett
(1799-02-04)4 February 1799
Porto,Kingdom of Portugal
Died9 December 1854(1854-12-09)(aged 55)
Lisbon,Kingdom of Portugal
OccupationPoet,playwright,novelist,politician,journalist
NationalityPortuguese
Literary movementRomanticism
Notable worksViagens na Minha Terra,Camões,Frei Luís de Sousa
Signature
Minister and Secretary of State
of Foreign Affairs
In office
4 March 1852 – 17 August 1852
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Saldanha
Preceded byAntónio Jervis de Atouguia
Succeeded byAntónio Jervis de Atouguia
Chief Chronicler of the Kingdom of Portugal
In office
20 December 1838 – 16 July 1841
Prime MinisterThe Viscount of Sá da Bandeira
Preceded byJoão Bernardo da Rocha Loureiro
Succeeded byThe Viscount of Santarém
(as Guardian of theRoyal Archives)
Inspector-General of the National Theatres and Shows
In office
22 November 1836 – 16 July 1841
Prime MinisterThe Viscount of Sá da Bandeira
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJoaquim Larcher

João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st Viscount of Almeida Garrett(Portuguese pronunciation:[alˈmɐjðɐɣɐˈʁɛtɨ];4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was aPortuguesepoet,orator,playwright,novelist,journalist,politician,and apeer of the realm.A major promoter of theater in Portugal he is considered the greatest figure ofPortuguese Romanticismand a true revolutionary and humanist. He proposed the construction of theD. Maria II National Theatreand the creation of theConservatory of Dramatic Art.

Biography[edit]

Garrett was born inPorto,the son of António Bernardo da Silva Garrett (1739–1834), afidalgoof theRoyal Householdandknightof theOrder of Christ,and his wife (they were married in 1796) Ana Augusta de Almeida Leitão (b.Porto,c. 1770). At an early age, around 4 or 5 years old, Garrett changed his name to João Baptista da Silva Leitão, adding a name from his godfather and altering the order of his surnames.

In 1809, his family fled thesecond French invasioncarried out bySoult's troops, seeking refuge inAngra do Heroísmo,Terceira Island,Azores.While in the Azores, he was taught by his uncle, Dom FreiAlexandre da Sagrada Família(Faial,Horta,22 May 1737 –Terceira,Angra do Heroísmo,22 April 1818), also afreemason,then the 25thBishop of Angra(1816–1818) and formerbishopofMalaccaandTimor;his two other uncles were Manuel Inácio da Silva Garrett,Archdeaconof Angra, and Inácio da Silva Garrett, also aclergymanof Angra. In childhood, hismulattoBraziliannannyRosa de Lima taught him some traditional stories that later influenced his work.

In 1818, he moved toCoimbrato study at theUniversitylaw school. In 1818, he publishedO Retrato de Vénus[1],a work for which was soon to be prosecuted, as it was considered "materialist, atheist, and immoral"; it was during this period that he adopted and added hispen namede Almeida Garrett, who was seen as more aristocratic.

Although he did not take active part in theLiberal Revolutionthat broke out inPortoin 1820, he contributed with two patriotic verses, theHymno Constitucionaland theHymno Patriótico,which his friends copied and distributed in the streets of Porto. After the "Vilafrancada",a reactionarycoup d'étatled by theInfante Dom Miguelin 1823, he was forced to seek exile in England. He had just married the beautiful Luísa Cândida Midosi who was only 12 or 13 years old at the time and was the sister of his friend Luís Frederico Midosi, later married to Maria Teresa Achemon, both related to theatre and children of José Midosi (son of anItalianfather and anIrishmother) and wife Ana Cândida de Ataíde Lobo. While in England, inEdgbaston,Warwickshire,he began his association withRomanticism,being subject to the first-hand influences ofWilliam ShakespeareandWalter Scott,as well as to that ofGothic aesthetics.In the beginning of 1825, Garrett left for France where he wroteCamões(1825) andDona Branca(1826), poems that are usually considered the first Romantic works inPortuguese literature.In 1826, he returned to Portugal, where he settled for two years and founded the newspapersO PortuguezandO Chronista.In 1828, under the rule of KingMiguel of Portugal,he was again forced to settle in England, publishing Adozinda and performing his tragedyCatãoat the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.[2]

Together withAlexandre HerculanoandJoaquim António de Aguiar,he took part in theLanding of Mindelo,carried out during theLiberal Wars.When aconstitutional monarchywas established, he briefly served as itsConsul GeneraltoBrussels;upon his return, he was acclaimed as one of the majororatorsof Liberalism, and took initiative in the creation of a new Portuguese theatre (during the period, he wrote his historical playsGil Vicente,D. Filipa de Vilhena,andO Alfageme de Santarém).

In 1843, Garrett publishedRomanceiro e Cancioneiro Geral,a collection offolklore;two years later, he wrote the first volume of hishistorical novelO Arco de Santana(fully published in 1850, it took inspiration fromVictor Hugo'sThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame).O Arco de Santanasignified a change in Garrett's style, leading to a more complex and subjective prose with which he experimented at length inViagens na Minha Terra[3](Travels in My Homeland,1846). His innovative manner was also felt in his poem collectionsFlores sem Fruto(Flowers without Fruit, 1844) andFolhas Caídas(Fallen Leaves, 1853).

Ennobled by DonaMaria II of Portugalin 1852 with the title of 1stViscountof Almeida Garrett, he wasMinister of Foreign Affairsfor only a few days in the same year (in the cabinet of theDuke of Saldanha).

Almeida Garrett ended his relationship with Luísa Midosi and divorced in 1835 (who later remarried Alexandre Desiré Létrillard) to join 17-year-old Adelaide Deville Pastor in 1836 – she was to remain his partner until her early death in 1839, leaving a daughter named Maria Adelaide, whose early life tragedy and illegitimacy inspired her father to write the playFrei Luís de Sousa.

Later in his life he became the lover of Rosa de Montúfar y Infante, aSpanishnoblewoman daughter of the 3rd Marques de Selva Alegre, wife ofJoaquim António Velez Barreiros,1stBaronand 1stViscountde Nossa Senhora da Luz and twice (277th and 286th)Commanderof theOrder of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa,andMinisterandGovernorofCape Verde,whom he celebrated at his last and probably best poetry bookFolhas Caídas.

Garrett died of cancer in Lisbon at 6:30 in the afternoon of 9 December 1854. He was buried at the Cemetery of Prazeres and, on 3 May 1903, his remains were transferred to the national pantheon in theJerónimos Monastery,where they rest near to those ofAlexandre HerculanoandLuís Vaz de Camões.

Despite the wish that it went to his natural daughter, one of the reasons why he accepted it, his title passed on to the descendants of his brother Alexandre José da Silva de Almeida Garrett (7 August 1797 – 24 October 1847),fidalgoof theRoyal Household,who was a partisan of King Miguel I of Portugal for all his life, and wife (m. 16 June 1822) Angélica Isabel Cardoso Guimarães (2 February 1803 –). He also had a sister Maria Amália de Almeida Garrett, who married in the Azores where they were then living with Francisco de Meneses de Lemos e Carvalho (Terceira,Angra do Heroísmo,20 September 1786 –) and had female issue.

Honour: Portugal issued a set of 4 postage stamps in honor of Joao Baptista da Silva Leitao de Almeida Garrett on 7 March 1957.

List of works[edit]

  • 1819 - Lucrécia (Lucretia)
  • 1820 - O Roubo das Sabinas (poem written in youth, published in 1968) (The Rape of the Sabine Women)
  • 1820 - Mérope (theater) (Merope)
  • 1821 - O Retrato de Vénus (poetry) (The Portrait of Venus)
  • 1821 - Catão (theater) (Cato)
  • 1825 - Camões (poetry) (Camoens)
  • 1826 - Dona Branca (poetry) (Lady Branca)
  • 1828 - Adozinda (poetry)
  • 1829 - Lírica de João Mínimo (poetry) (João Mínimo's Lyric)
  • 1829 - O tratado "Da Educação" (A Treatise on Education)
  • 1830 - Portugal na Balança da Europa (Portugal on the scales of Europe)
  • 1838 - Um Auto de Gil Vicente (theater) (Gil Vicente's Auto)
  • 1842 - O Alfageme de Santarém (theater)
  • 1843 - Romanceiro e Cancioneiro Geral, tomo 1
  • 1843 -Frei Luís de Sousa(theater)ISBN0-85051-510-6(Brother Luís de Sousa)
  • 1844 -Miragaia
  • 1845 - Flores sem fruto (poetry) (Fruitless Flowers)
  • 1845 - O Arco de Sant'Ana I (fiction) (The Arch of Sant'Ana I)
  • 1846 - Falar Verdade a Mentir (theater) (Speaking the Truth by Lying)
  • 1846 - Viagens na Minha Terra (fiction)ISBN0-85051-511-4(Travels in my Homeland)
  • 1846 - D. Filipa de Vilhena (theater)
  • 1848 - As profecias do Bandarra (Bandarra's Prophecies)
  • 1848 - Um Noivado no Dafundo (A Wedding in Dafundo)
  • 1848 - A sobrinha do Marquês (theater) (The Marquis's Niece)
  • 1849 - Memórias Históricas de José Xavier Mouzinho da Silveira (Historical Memories ofJosé Xavier Mouzinho da Silveira)
  • 1850 - O Arco de Sant'Ana II (fiction) (The Arch of Sant'Ana II)
  • 1851 - Romanceiro e Cancioneiro Geral, tomo 2 e 3
  • 1853 - Folhas Caídas (poetry) (Fallen Leaves)
  • 1853 - Fábulas e Folhas Caídas (poetry) (Fables and Fallen Leaves)
  • 1854? - Helena (fiction)
  • 18?? - Afonso de Albuquerque
  • 1871 - Discursos Parliamentares e Memórias Biográficas (Parliamentary Speeches and Biographical Memories)

External links[edit]

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