Aquilino Ribeiro

Aquilino Ribeiro had a long and prolific literary career; he translated works, wrote biographies, children’s books, novels, novellas, and memoirs. He contributed to numerous newspapers and magazines and founded the Portuguese Writers’ Society in 1956.

Aquilino Gomes Ribeiro was born on 13 September 1885 in Tabosa do Carregal, Sernancelhe (Viseu).

He spent his childhood and youth between the regions of Beiras and Trás-os-Montes. He later moved to Lisbon, where in 1906 he began collaborating with the republican movement and was arrested in 1907. Following his escape, he settled in Paris, where he pursued studies in philosophy at the Sorbonne.

He returned to Portugal in 1915. His life was marked by intense civic, political, and literary activity. His opposition to the fascist regime led to periods of imprisonment and exile. He supported the presidential candidacies of Norton de Matos (1949) and Humberto Delgado (1958).

He was elected a full member of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 1957 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960.

He died in Lisbon on 27 May 1963. His remains were transferred to the National Pantheon in 2007.