Maria José Dupré, also known as Sra. Leandro Dupré (1905 – 15 May 1984), was one of the most popular and prolific Brazilian writers of the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life

Born in 1905 in a small town in the

state of São Paulo State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, Dupré published her first story "Uma Família Antiga de Jaboticabal" ("An Old Family from Jaboticabal") in the newspaper ''

O Estado de S. Paulo ''O Estado de S. Paulo'' (; ), also known as ''Estadão'' (; ), is a daily newspaper published in State of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest newspaper in Brazil, and its format changed from broadsheet to Berliner (format), ...

'' in 1978.

Novels

Dupré published her first novel, ''O Romance de Teresa Bernard'' ("The Romance of Teresa Bernard"), in 1941. Her next novel, '' Éramos Seis'', was written in 1943 and praised by writer and critic

Monteiro Lobato José Bento Renato Monteiro Lobato (; 18 April 1882 – 4 July 1948) was one of Brazil's most influential writers, mostly for his children's books set in the fictional Sítio do Picapau Amarelo (Yellow Woodpecker Farm) but he had been previous ...

and became a best-seller. Chronicling the struggles of a middle-class family in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, the novel was awarded the Raul Pompeia Prize for best work of 1943 by the

Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL; English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tuesday, ...

. Dupré wrote ''Luz e Sombra'' ("Light and Dark") in 1944, ''Gina'' in 1945, and ''Os Rodriguez'' ("The Rodriguezes") in 1946. She published a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''Éramos Seis'' called ''Dona Lola'' in 1949.

Impact

''Éramos Seis'' has been adapted as a

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...

five times, in 1958, 1967, 1977, 1994 and 2019.

Later life

Dupré died on 15 May 1984 in

Guarujá Guarujá (; ) is a municipality in the São Paulo state of Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of the Baixada Santista. The population is 311,116 (2022 preliminary census count) in an area of . This place name comes from the Tupi lan ...

, São Paulo, Brazil.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupre, Maria Jose 1905 births 1984 deaths People from Guarujá 20th-century Brazilian women writers Brazilian women novelists 20th-century Brazilian novelists