António Lobo Antunes

António Lobo Antunes in March 2010

António Lobo Antunes, GCSE, MD (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔniu ˈloβu ɐ̃ˈtunɨʃ]); born 1 September 1942) is a Portuguese novelist and medical doctor.

Life and career

António Lobo Antunes was born in Lisbon as the eldest of six sons of João Alfredo de Figueiredo Lobo Antunes (born 1915), prominent Neurologist and Professor, close collaborator of Egas Moniz, Nobel prize of physiology, and wife Margarida da Beira Cardoso de Melo Machado, daughter of Joaquim José Machado, 70th, 82nd and 91st Governor of Mozambique and 110th Governor of Portuguese India, and wife Mariana Cardoso de Melo. His great-grandfather in male line was an illegitimate son of Bernardo António de Brito Antunes, 1st Viscount of Nazaré. His brother is neurosurgeon João Lobo Antunes.

At the age of seven, he decided to be a writer but when he was 16, his father sent him to the medical school of the University of Lisbon. He graduated as a medical doctor, later specializing in psychiatry. During this time he never stopped writing.

By the end of his education, Lobo Antunes had to serve with the Portuguese Army to take part in the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974). In a military hospital in Angola, he became interested in the subjects of death and the other.

Lobo Antunes came back from Africa in 1973. The Angolan war for independence was the subject of many of his novels. He worked many months in Germany and Belgium.

In 1979, Lobo Antunes published his first novel, Memória de Elefante (Elephant's Memory), in which he told the story of his separation. Due to the success of his first novel, Lobo Antunes decided to devote his evenings to writing. He has been practicing psychiatry as well, mainly at the outpatients' unit at the Hospital Miguel Bombarda of Lisbon.

His style is considered to be very dense, heavily influenced by William Faulkner and Louis-Ferdinand Céline, and his books also very dense in size.

He is also a supporter of Iberian Federalism.

He was granted the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword.

Marriages and issue

He married firstly and divorced Maria José Xavier da Fonseca e Costa (Viseu, 13 October 1946 - Lisbon, 20 February 1999), the second of three daughters of José Hermano da Costa (7 September 1911 - Lisbon, 1 September 1994) and wife Clara da Conceição de Barros Xavier da Fonseca e Costa (Viseu, Viseu, 1919 - ?), by whom he has two daughters: Maria José da Fonseca e Costa Lobo Antunes in 1971 (wife of José Filipe Pinheiro Chagas Verde [born Angola, 20 October 1961] and mother of José Maria Lobo Antunes Vasques de Paula [born Lisbon, 6 July 2000] by António Pedro de Paula e Barros Vasques, born in 1970); and Joana da Fonseca e Costa Lobo Antunes in 1973 (wife of David Vítor Marçal Pinto and mother of João Alfredo Lobo Antunes Marçal [born Lisbon, São Jorge de Arroios, 22 October 2009]).

He married secondly and divorced Maria João Espírito Santo Bustorff Silva (born Lisbon, 13 August 1950), daughter of António Sérgio Carneiro Bustorff Silva (born 9 July 1923) and wife (m. 1940) Ana Maria da Anunciação de Fátima de Morais Sarmento Cohen do Espírito Santo Silva (born 1928, Sephardi Jewish on her maternal grandfather's side), and former wife of José Luís de Castro Caldas (born 16 April 1941), with one son, by whom she has one daughter: Isabel Bustorff Lobo Antunes (born 1983).

He married thirdly in 2010 Cristina Ferreira de Almeida, daughter of João Carlos Ferreira de Almeida (Lisbon, 1941 - 2008) and wife Natércia Ribeiro da Silva (born Alenquer).

Bibliography

• Memória de Elefante (1979) Elephant's Memory
• Os Cus de Judas (1979) The Land at the End of the World (available in English)
• Conhecimento do Inferno (1980) Knowledge of Hell (available in English)
• Explicação dos Pássaros (1981) An Explanation of the Birds (available in English)
• Fado Alexandrino (1983) Fado Alexandrino (available in English)
• Auto dos Danados (1985) Act of the Damned (available in English)
• As Naus (1988) The Return of the Caravels (available in English)
• Tratado das Paixões da Alma (1990) Treatise on the Soul's Passions
• A Ordem Natural das Coisas (1992) The Natural Order of Things (available in English)
• A Morte de Carlos Gardel (1994) The Death of Carlos Gardel
• O Manual dos Inquisidores (1996) The Inquisitors' Manual (available in English)
• O Esplendor de Portugal (1997) The Splendor of Portugal (available in English)
• Exortação aos Crocodilos (1999) Exhortation to the Crocodiles
• Não Entres Tão Depressa Nessa Noite Escura (2000) Don't Go Through That Dark Night So Fast
• Que Farei Quando Tudo Arde? (2001) What Can I Do When Everything's on Fire? (available in English)
• Boa Tarde às Coisas Aqui em Baixo (2003) Good Evening to the Things From Here Below
• Eu Hei-de Amar uma Pedra (2004) I Shall Love a Stone
• Ontem Não te vi em Babilónia (2006) Didn't See You In Babylon Yesterday
• O Meu Nome é Legião (2007) My Name Is Legion
• O Arquipélago da Insónia (2008) Archipelago of Insomnia
• Que Cavalos São Aqueles Que Fazem Sombra no Mar? (2009) What Are Those Horses That Shade In The Sea?
• Sôbolos Rios Que Vão (2010)

• Lobo Antunes also published four compilation books featuring texts previously published in magazines. At the moment Lobo Antunes writes a biweekly newspaper column for Visão, a Portuguese magazine.

Awards

• Prize of Portuguese Writers' Association (1985 and 1999)
• France Culture Prize (1996 and 1997)
• Rosalía de Castro Prize (1999)
• The Austrian State Prize for European Literature (2000)
• Ovid Prize, Romania (2003)
• Latin Union International Prize (2003)
• Jerusalem Prize (2005)
• Camões Prize (2007)
• Juan Rulfo Premio de Literatura en Lengua Romances (2008)
• France Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2008)