The Viscount of Almeida Garrett | |
|---|---|
 Alithograph of Garrett, by Pedro Augusto Guglielmi | |
| Born | João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett (1799-02-04)4 February 1799 |
| Died | 9 December 1854(1854-12-09) (aged 55) |
| Occupation | Poet,playwright, novelist,politician,journalist |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Notable works | Viagens 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 Minister | The Duke of Saldanha |
| Preceded by | António Jervis de Atouguia |
| Succeeded by | António Jervis de Atouguia |
| Chief Chronicler of the Kingdom of Portugal | |
| In office 20 December 1838 – 16 July 1841 | |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount of Sá da Bandeira |
| Preceded by | João Bernardo da Rocha Loureiro |
| Succeeded by | The 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 Minister | The Viscount of Sá da Bandeira |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Joaquim 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 Romanticism and a true revolutionary and humanist. He proposed the construction of theD. Maria II National Theatre and the creation of theConservatory of Dramatic Art.
Garrett was born inPorto, the son of António Bernardo da Silva Garrett (1739–1834), afidalgo of theRoyal Household andknight of 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 invasion carried 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 formerbishop ofMalacca andTimor; his two other uncles were Manuel Inácio da Silva Garrett,Archdeacon of Angra, and Inácio da Silva Garrett, also aclergyman of Angra. In childhood, hismulatto Braziliannanny Rosa de Lima taught him some traditional stories that later influenced his work.
In 1818, he moved toCoimbra to study at theUniversity law 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 name de Almeida Garrett, who was seen as more aristocratic.
Although he did not take active part in theLiberal Revolution that broke out inPorto in 1820, he contributed with two patriotic verses, theHymno Constitucional and theHymno Patriótico, which his friends copied and distributed in the streets of Porto. After the "Vilafrancada", a reactionarycoup d'état led by theInfante Dom Miguel in 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 anItalian father and anIrish mother) 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 Shakespeare andWalter 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 Portuguez andO Chronista. In 1828, under the rule of KingMiguel of Portugal, he was again forced to settle in England, publishing Adozinda and performing his tragedyCatão at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.[2]
Together withAlexandre Herculano andJoaquim António de Aguiar, he took part in theLanding of Mindelo, carried out during theLiberal Wars. When aconstitutional monarchy was established, he briefly served as itsConsul General toBrussels; upon his return, he was acclaimed as one of the majororators of Liberalism, and took initiative in the creation of a new Portuguese theatre (during the period, he wrote hishistorical playsGil Vicente,D. Filipa de Vilhena, andThe Monk from Santarem (play) [pt]).
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 Santana signified 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 Portugal in 1852 with the title of 1stViscount of Almeida Garrett, he wasMinister of Foreign Affairs for 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, aSpanish noblewoman daughter of the 3rd Marques de Selva Alegre, wife ofJoaquim António Velez Barreiros, 1stBaron and 1stViscount de Nossa Senhora da Luz and twice (277th and 286th)Commander of theOrder of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa, andMinister andGovernor ofCape 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 Herculano andLuís 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),fidalgo of 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.
