Érico Lopes Verissimo (December 17, 1905 – November 28, 1975) was an important Brazilian writer, born in the State of Rio Grande do Sul.

Biography

Érico Verissimo was the son of Sebastião Verissimo da Fonseca and Abegahy Lopes Verissimo. His father, heir of a rich family in Cruz Alta, met financial ruin during his son's youth and, as a result, Erico didn't complete secondary school because of the need to work. Verissimo settled in Cruz Alta as the owner of a

drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmaci ...

, but was unsuccessful. He then moved to

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

in 1930, willing to live solely by selling his writing. There he began to live around writers of renown, such as

Mário Quintana Mário de Miranda Quintana (July 30, 1906 – May 5, 1994) was a Brazilian writer and translator. He became known as the poet of "simple things", and his style is marked by irony, profundity and technical perfection. The main themes of his poetr ...

, Augusto Meyer, Guilhermino César and others. In the following year, he was hired to occupy the position of secretary of edition of the '' Revista do Globo'', of which he would become editor in 1933. He then undertook the whole editorial project at

Editora Globo Editora Globo S.A. (Globo Editors) is a Brazilian publishing house, property of Fundação Roberto Marinho. It began as a bookstore called Livraria do Globo, created in Porto Alegre, in December 1883, by Laudelino Pinheiro de Barcellos and Satur ...

, propelling its nationwide fame. He published his first work, ''Fantoches'' ("Puppets"), in 1932, with a sequence of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, mostly in the form of short

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. The following year, he saw his first great success with the

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

''Clarissa''. Verissimo married in 1931 to Mafalda Volpe and had two children, Luis Fernando Verissimo, also a writer, and Clarissa. In 1943 he moved with his family to the United States, where he gave lessons on

Brazilian Literature Brazilian literature is the literature written in the Portuguese language by Brazilians or in Brazil, including works written prior to the country's independence in 1822. Throughout its early years, literature from Brazil followed the literary t ...

in the

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, until 1945. Between 1953 and 1956 he was director of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Organization of American States, in

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This period of his life was recorded in some of his books, including: ''Gato Preto em Campo de Neve'' ("Black Cat in a Snow Field"), ''A Volta do Gato Preto'' ("The Return of the Black Cat"), and ''História da Literatura Brasileira'' ("History of Brazilian Literature"), which contains some of his lectures at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. His epic '' O Tempo e o Vento'' ("The Time and the Wind'") became one of the great masterpieces of the Brazilian novel, alongside '' Os Sertões'' by

Euclides da Cunha Euclides da Cunha (, January 20, 1866 – August 15, 1909) was a Brazilian journalist, sociologist and engineer. His most important work is '' Os Sertões'' (''Rebellion in the Backlands''), a non-fictional account of the military expeditions ...

, and '' Grande Sertão: Veredas'' by

Guimarães Rosa Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...

. His historical trilogy '' O Tempo e o Vento'' ("The Time and the Wind") is considered as his greatest work, written in the period of 1949-1961, from which arose primordial characters such as ''Ana Terra'' and ''Capitão Rodrigo'' that went on to become popular amongst his readers. Four of his, ''Time and the Wind'', ''Night'', ''Mexico'', and '' His Excellency, the Ambassador'', were translated into the English language by Linton Lomas Barrett. In 1965 Verissimo published the romance ''O Senhor Embaixador'' ("His Excellency, the Ambassador"), in which he reflected upon the deviations of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. In the romance ''Incidente em Antares'' ("Incident in Antares"), written in 1971, he traces a parallel with

Brazilian politics The politics of Brazil take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. The political and administrative ...

with the use of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, with the rebellion of corpses during a strike of the gravekeepers, in the fictitious city of Antares. After suffering from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1975, Verissimo was unable to complete the second volume of his autobiography entitled ''Solo de Clarineta'' ("Clarinet Solo"), which was intended to be a trilogy, apart from a romance which would be entitled ''A Hora do Sétimo Anjo'' ("The Hour of the Seventh Angel"). He was the father of another famous writer of Rio Grande do Sul, Luis Fernando Verissimo.

Works

His works have been compiled on three occasions: *''Obras de Erico Verissimo'' ("Works of Érico Veríssimo") – 1956 (17 volumes) *''Obras completas'' ("Complete Works") – 1961 (10 volumes) *''Ficção completa'' ("Complete Fiction")– 1966 (5 volumes) Érico Verissimo's books have been translated to German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Indonesian, English, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Romanian, Russian and Czech. Short stories *''Fantoches'' ("Puppets") *''As mãos de meu filho'' ("My Son's Hands") *''O ataque'' ("The Attack") *''Os devaneios do general'' ("The reveries of the general") Novels *''Clarissa'' – 1933 *''Caminhos Cruzados'' ("Crossed Paths") – 1935 *''Música ao Longe'' ("Music From Afar") – 1936 *''Um Lugar ao Sol'' ("A Place in the Sun")– 1936 *''Olhai os Lírios do Campo'' ("Behold the Lilies of the Field")– 1938 *''Saga'' – 1940 *''O Resto É Silêncio, '' ("The Rest is Silence") – 1943 *'' O Tempo e o Vento'' (The Time and the Wind"): **''O continente'' ("The Continent") – 1949 **''O Retrato'' ("The Portrait") – 1951 **''O Arquipélago ("The Archipelago") – 1961 *'' Noite'' ("Night") - 1954 (the versions published in Portugal contain also "A Sonata" ("The Sonata"), a short story written by a solitary music teacher, that sees himself transported to the past, to the year of his birth, where he falls in love for a beautiful woman) *'' O Senhor Embaixador'' ("His Majesty, the Ambassador") – 1965 *''O Prisoneiro'' ("The Prisoner") – 1967 *''Incidente em Antares'' ("Incident in Antares") – 1971 Children's literature *''A vida de Joana d'Arc'' – 1935 *'' As Aventuras do Avião Vermelho'' – 1936 *''Os Três Porquinhos Pobres'' – 1936 *''Rosa Maria no Castelo Encantado'' – 1936 *''Meu ABC'' – 1936 *''As Aventuras de Tibicuera'' – 1937 *''O Urso com Música na Barriga'' – 1938 *''A Vida do Elefante Basílio'' – 1939 *''Outra vez os três porquinhos'' – 1939 *''Viagem à aurora do mundo'' – 1939 *''Aventuras no mundo da higiene'' – 1939 *''Gente e bichos'' – 1956 Travel literature *''Gato Preto em Campo de Neve'' – 1941 *''A Volta do Gato Preto'' – 1946 *''México'' – 1957 *''Israel em Abril'' – 1969 Autobiographies *''O escritor diante do espelho'' – 1966 (in "Ficção Completa") *''Solo de Clarineta'' – Memórias (Volume I) – 1973 *''Solo de clarineta'' – Memórias (Volume II) – 1976 (posthumous edition, organized by Flávio L. Chaves) Essays *''Brazilian Literature: an Outline'' – 1945 *''Mundo velho sem porteira'' – 1973 *''Breve história da literatura brasileira'' Biographies *''Um certo Henrique Bertaso'' – 1972 Translations :Novels *''The Ringer'', by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

– 1931 *''The Crimson Circle'', by Edgar Wallace – 1931 *''The Door with Seven Locks'', by Edgar Wallace – 1931 *''Jahrgang 1902'', by

Ernst Glaeser Ernst Glaeser (29 July 1902 – 8 February 1963) was a German writer, known for his best-selling pacifist novel ''Jahrgang 1902'' ("Born in 1902"). He was associated with the political left, and went into exile in Switzerland at the start of the N ...

– 1933 *''

Point Counter Point ''Point Counter Point'' is a novel by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1928. It is Huxley's longest novel, and was notably more complex and serious than his earlier fiction. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked ''Point Counter Point'' 44th on ...

'', by

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– 1934 *'' Kleiner Mann, Was nun?'', by

Hans Fallada Hans Fallada (; born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen; 21 July 18935 February 1947) was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include '' Little Man, What Now?'' (1932) and ''Every Man Dies Alone'' ...

– 1937 *'' We Are Not Alone'', by James Hilton – 1940 *''

Goodbye Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two tele ...

'', by James Hilton – 1940 *''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

'', by John Steinbeck – 1940 *''

Portrait of Jennie ''Portrait of Jennie'' is a 1948 American fantasy film based on the 1940 novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. At the 21st Academy A ...

'', by

Robert Nathan Robert Gruntal Nathan (January 2, 1894 – May 25, 1985) was an American novelist and poet. Biography Nathan was born into a prominent New York Sephardic family. He was educated in the United States and Switzerland and attended Harvard Uni ...

– 1942 *'' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'', by

Horace McCoy Horace Stanley McCoy (April 14, 1897 – December 15, 1955) was an American writer whose mostly hardboiled stories took place during the Great Depression. His best-known novel is '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1935), which was made into ...

– 1947 *''Then and Now'', by

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

– 1948 *''The Clue of the New Pin''), by Edgar Wallace – 1956 :Short Stories *'' ''Psychology'''', by

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...

– 1939 (Revista do Globo) *''

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

'', by Katherine Mansfield – 1940 *''

Her First Ball "Her First Ball" is a 1921 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in ''The Sphere'' on 28 November 1921, and later reprinted in '' The Garden Party and Other Stories''. Plot summary A young girl called Leila has come to the city ...

'', by Katherine Mansfield – 1940 (Revista do Globo)

References

External links

The Rise of Modern Literature in Southern Brazil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verissimo, Erico 1905 births 1975 deaths People from Rio Grande do Sul Culture in Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Brazilian agnostics Brazilian male novelists Brazilian male short story writers Brazilian translators Brazilian essayists English–Portuguese translators 20th-century translators 20th-century Brazilian novelists 20th-century Brazilian short story writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century Brazilian male writers