José Duarte Ramalho Ortigão () (24 November 1836 – 27 September 1915) was a Portuguese writer of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Biography
Ortigão spent his early years with his maternal grandmother in
Porto
Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
. He studied law in the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...
but he did not complete his studies. After returning to his home town, he taught French at a college run by his father. Among his students was
Eça de Queiroz.
In 1862 he dedicated himself to journalism and became a literary critic at the ''
Diário do Porto'' and contributed to several literary magazines.
At this period
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
was the dominant trend in Portuguese literature, led by several major writers including
Camilo Castelo Branco and
António Augusto Soares de Passos, who influenced Ortigão. In the 1870s, a group of students from
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of .
The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...
began to promote new ideas in a reaction against romanticism. This group, eventually called the ''70s Generation'', was to have a major influence on Portuguese literature. As a supporter of romanticism, Ortigão became involved in a struggle against them and even fought a
duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons.
During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
with
Antero de Quental. In spite of this early opposition he afterwards became friendly with some members of the group. It was at this period that he wrote ''
The Mystery of the Sintra Road'' and created the satirical journal ''
As Farpas'', both in collaboration with Eça de Queiroz. When Queiroz became a diplomat, initially in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, Ortigão continued ''As Farpas'' alone.
Ortigão also worked as a translator. In 1874 he produced a Portuguese translation of the English satirical novel ''
Ginx's Baby'' by
Edward Jenkins.
Ramalho Ortigão died in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
on 27 September 1915.
Works
* ''Literatura de Hoje'' (1866).
* ''Em Paris'' (1868).
* ''Contos Côr de Rosa'' (1869).
* ''O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra'' (1870).
* ''Biographia de
Emilia Adelaide Pimentel'' (1871).
* ''
As Farpas'' (with
Eça de Queirós, 1871–72).
''As Farpas''(1871–1882).
* ''Banhos de Caldas e Águas Minerais'' (1875).
* ''As Praias de Portugal'' (1876).
* ''Notas de Viagem'' (1878).
* ''A Instrucção Secundária na Câmara dos Senhores Deputados'' (1883).
* ''A Holanda'' (1883).
* ''John Bull'' (1887).
''O Culto da Arte em Portugal''(1896).
''Últimas Farpas''(1914).
Posthumous
* ''As Farpas Esquecidas'' (1946–47).
Translations
* ''Hygiene da Alma'', by
Ernst, Baron von Feuchtersleben (1873).
* ''Ginx's Baby, o Engeitado: seu Nascimento e Mais Desastres'', by
Edward Jenkins (1874).
* ''O Marquez de Villemer'', by
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...
(1905).
References
* Arantes, Hemetério (1915)
''Ramalho Ortigão.''Lisboa: Livraria Ferreira.
* Fonseca, Francisco Fernandes Guimarães (1866)
''A Litteratura Ramalhuda; A Propósito dos Senhores Castilho, e Ramalho Ortigão.''Coimbra: Imprensa Litteraria.
* Oliveira, Maria João L. Ortigão de (1999). ''O Essencial sobre Ramalho Ortigão.'' Lisboa: INCM.
* Quintas, José Manuel (1997)
Sintra: Academia da Força Aérea.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortigao, Ramalho
Portuguese male writers
1836 births
1915 deaths
Writers from Porto
19th-century Portuguese writers
19th-century Portuguese male writers
19th-century translators
20th-century Portuguese writers
20th-century Portuguese translators
Portuguese journalists
Portuguese male journalists
19th-century journalists
20th-century Portuguese male writers
Portuguese magazine founders