Alexandre Manuel Vahia de Castro O'Neill de Bulhões,
GOSE
Gose () is a warm fermented beer that originated in Goslar, Germany. It is usually brewed with at least 50% of the grain bill being malted wheat. Dominant flavours in gose include a lemon sourness, a herbal characteristic, and a strong salti ...
(19 December 1924, in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
– 21 August 1986, in Lisbon) was a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
writer and poet of Irish descent.
Family
He was born at 39
Fontes Pereira de Melo
António Maria de Fontes Pereira de Melo GCTE KGF (; Lisbon, 8 September 1819 – 22 January 1887) was a Portuguese statesman and engineer. He was a leading parliamentarian and political figure of his time. Among other posts held, he was six ...
Avenue the son of José António Pereira de Eça O'Neill (Lisbon, c. 1890 – ?), a bank worker, and wife Maria da Glória Vahia de Barros de Castro (17 March 1905 – aft. October 1989), and paternal grandson of writer, poet,
conferencewoman and journalist
Maria O'Neill
Maria da Conceição Infante de Lacerda Pereira de Eça Custance O'Neill (Lisbon, 19 November 1873 – 23 March 1932) was a Portuguese writer, poet, journalist, and spiritualist of Irish descent.
Family
Maria O'Neill was the daughter of Carlos T ...
. His ancestor
João O'Neill (Irish: Seán Ó Néill) had emigrated from Ireland in 1740.
He had an older sister, Maria Amélia Vahia de Castro O'Neill de Bulhões, who became a
Nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
.
Career
He was a
self-taught
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...
person and worked as a
publicity professional.
Surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
and
concretist poet and writer, and a publicist, who collaborated in many
periodical
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...
s.
In 1948, O'Neill was among the founders of the Lisbon Surrealist Movement, along with
Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos,
José-Augusto França
José Augusto Rodrigues França (16 November 1922 – 18 September 2021) was a Portuguese historian, art critic, and professor.
Awards and honors
*Medal of Honor of the City of Lisbon, 1992.
*Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry (10 June ...
and others. His writings soon diverged from Surrealist to form an original style whose poetry reflects a love/
hate
Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is ...
relationship with his country.
His salient characteristics – a disrespect of conventions, both social and literary, an attitude of permanent revolt, playfulness with language, and the use of parody and
black humor
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
– are used to form a body of incisive depictions of what is to be Portuguese and his relation with the country.
Although most of his works have been lost or are missing or in private collections some of his work was displayed in 2002 at an exhibit on the
Surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
movement.
O'Neill was in permanent conflict with Portugal. While other contemporaries wrote poems that protested against national life under
Salazar, O'Neill's attack ran deeper. Poems such as ''Standing at Fearful Attention'' and ''Portugal'' suggested that the dictatorial regime was a symptom (the worst symptom) of graver ills – lack of courage and smallness of vision – woven into the nation's
psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
. Other poems, such as ''Lament of the Man Who Misses Being Blind'', seemed to hold religion and
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
responsible for an obscurantism that made change difficult if not impossible.
A publicist by profession, famed for inventing some of the most ingenious advertising slogans of his time, O'Neill was unusually adept at manipulating words and using them in an efficacious manner, but he refused to put that talent at the service of a lyrically lofty, feel-good sort of poetry (see 'Simply Expressive').
Stridently anti-
Romantic, concerned to keep humanity in its place as just one of
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
's
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, he did not believe that an especially harmonious world was possible, and he abhorred all attempts to escape the world, whether through mystical or poetical exaltations. His one hope, or consolation, explicitly stated in ''St. Francis's Empty Sandal'', was in the connection (never entirely peaceful) he felt with other members of the species.
Decorations
He was awarded the degree of
Grand Officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...
of the
Order of Saint James of the Sword.
Marriages and children
He married firstly on 27 December 1957 and divorced on 15 January 1971 television and film screenwriter, editor and director
Noémia Delgado. The couple had a son:
[''Raízes e Memórias'', Associação Portuguesa de Genealogia, Lisboa]
* Alexandre Delgado O'Neill (Lisbon, 23 December 1959 – Lisbon, Portugal, 4 January 1993), a photographer, unmarried and without issue
He married secondly in Lisbon on 4 August 1971 and divorced on 20 February 1981 politician
Teresa Patrício de Gouveia
Maria Teresa Pinto Basto Patrício de Gouveia, GOIH GCIH GCC GCOH KMM (born on 18 July 1946), commonly known as Teresa Patrício de Gouveia, is a Portuguese cultural manager, public servant and retired politician.
Background
Gouveia is a da ...
. The couple had a son:
[''História da Família Ferreira Pinto Basto'', Carlos Lourenço do Carmo da Camara Bobone, Livraria Bizantina, 1.ª Edição, Lisboa, 1997, pg. 403]
* Afonso de Gouveia O'Neill (born 28 May 1976), unmarried and without issue
Filmography
* ''
Las Hurdes
Las Hurdes (; Extremaduran: ''Las Jurdis'') is a ''comarca'' in the Sistema Central, at the northern end of the province of Cáceres in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, Spain. A well-known historical region, Las Hurdes is currently a Site ...
'' aka ''Las Hurdes, tierra sin pan'' (Spain: long title) or ''Tierra sin pan'' (Spain: short title) or ''Land Without Bread'' (International: English title) (1933) .... Himself – Voice
* ''
Dom Roberto
''Dom Roberto'' is a 1962 Portuguese film directed by Ernesto de Sousa and starring Raul Solnado, Glicínia Quartin and Nicolau Breyner. It was released on 30 May 1962.
Cast
* Raul Solnado
* Glicínia Quartin
*Nicolau Breyner
*Rui Mendes
Ru ...
'' (1962) Author of Poems
* ''
Pássaros de Asas Cortadas'' aka ''Birds with Clipped Wings'' (International: English title) (1963) Author of the
Dialogue
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...
* ''
Sete Balas Para Selma'' (1967) Author of Poem
* ''
Águas Vivas'' (1969) .... Narrator and also
Film writer
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
T ...
* ''
A Grande Roda'' (1970)
Film writer
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
T ...
* ''
Sever do Vouga... Uma Experiência'' (1971) .... Narrator
* ''
Schweik na Segunda Guerra Mundial'' (1975) (
TV) Author of Poems
* ''
Cantigamente'' (3 episodes, "#1.1", "#1.2" and "#1.3", 1976) Television writer
* ''
Máscaras'' (1976) .... Narrator
* ''
Nós por cá Todos Bem'' (1978) Author of Poem "Coro das Criadas de Servir"
* ''
Ninguém'' (1979) (
TV) Television writer
* ''
Lisboa
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
'' (1979) (
TV) Television writer
* ''
Prata da Casa'' (unknown episodes, 1980) .... Himself as Jury Member
References
External links
*
Alexandre O'Neill's Genealogy in a Portuguese Genealogical site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Alexandre
1924 births
1986 deaths
People from Lisbon
Portuguese anti-fascists
Portuguese people of Irish descent
Portuguese male poets
20th-century Portuguese poets
20th-century male writers