José Saramago was born on 16th November 1922, in Azinhaga. He was considered “the finest Portuguese writer of his generation” by The Guardian.

In 1924, Saramago and his family moved to Lisbon. Unfortunately, his brother died some months later. Saramago had always been a good pupil at school, but his parents couldn’t afford to keep him in grammar school. So, he went to study in a technical school, where he learnt to be a mechanic. In 1944, he got married to Ilda Reis. His first book, “The land of Sin”, was published three years later, when his daughter was born. In 1988, he fell in love with a Spanish journalist, Pilar del Río. A few years later they moved to Lanzarote due to the fact that his book was banned from a competition by the Portuguese government.  Saramago died on 18th June 2010 of leukemia.

José Saramago was a great novelist and, in 1995 he was awarded the Camões Prize. Later, in 1998, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. “Memorial do Convento” , “Ensaio sobre a Cegueira”, “Todos os Nomes”, “As Intermitências da Morte” and “O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo” are some of his most famous novels. The last one, caused some controversy.

By: Carolina M. and Jorge F.