Eça de Queiroz


José Maria de Eça de Queiroz or Queirós is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London Observer, Jonathan Keates ranked him alongside Dickens, Balzac and Tolstoy.
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Biography

Eça de Queiroz was born in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, in 1845. An illegitimate child, he was officially recorded as the son of José Maria de Almeida Teixeira de Queiroz and Carolina Augusta Pereira d'Eça. His unmarried mother left home so that her son could be born away from social scandal. Although his parents married when he was four years old, he lived with his paternal grandparents until he was ten.
At age 16, he went to Coimbra to study law at the University of Coimbra; there he met the poet Antero de Quental. Eça's first work was a series of prose poems, published in the Gazeta de Portugal magazine, which eventually appeared in book form in a posthumous collection edited by Batalha Reis entitled Prosas Bárbaras. He worked as a journalist at Évora, then returned to Lisbon and, with his former school friend Ramalho Ortigão and others, created the Correspondence of the fictional adventurer Fradique Mendes. This amusing work was first published in 1900.
In 1869 and 1870, Eça de Queiroz travelled to Egypt and watched the opening of the Suez Canal, which inspired several of his works, most notably O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra, written in collaboration with Ramalho Ortigão, in which Fradique Mendes appears. A Relíquia was also written at this period but was published only in 1887. The work was strongly influenced by Memorie di Giuda by Ferdinando Petruccelli della Gattina, such as to lead some scholars to accuse the Portuguese writer of plagiarism.
When he was later dispatched to Leiria to work as a municipal administrator, Eça de Queiroz wrote his first realist novel, O Crime do Padre Amaro, which is set in the city and first appeared in 1875.
Eça then worked in the Portuguese consular service and after two years' service at Havana was stationed, from late 1874 until April 1879, at 53 Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, where there is a memorial plaque in his honour. His diplomatic duties included the dispatch of detailed reports to the Portuguese foreign office concerning the unrest in the Northumberland and Durham coalfields – in which, as he points out, the miners earned twice as much as those in South Wales, along with free housing and a weekly supply of coal. The Newcastle years were among the most productive of his literary career. He published the second version of O Crime de Padre Amaro in 1876 and another celebrated novel, O Primo Basílio in 1878, as well as working on a number of other projects. These included the first of his "Cartas de Londres" which were printed in the Lisbon daily newspaper Diário de Notícias and afterwards appeared in book form as Cartas de Inglaterra.
As early as 1878 he had at least given a name to his masterpiece Os Maias, though this was largely written while he was Portuguese consul in Bristol from 1879 to 1888. It was published the year he left Bristol to become the Portuguese consul-general in Paris. In February 1886, he married Maria Emília de Castro in Lisbon. She joined him at his residence in 38 Stoke Hill, Stoke Bishop, where there is also a memorial plaque. However, Maria Emília was not happy there; so they decided to rent a house in Notting Hill, London. As his earlier letters indicate that he had already made frequent visits to London, this was probably a satisfactory arrangement for both. Thereafter Eça commuted between London and Bristol, where his house in Stoke Bishop was equidistant between the outer docks at Avonmouth and inner docks in Bristol.
Eça, a cosmopolitan widely read in English literature, was not enamoured of English society, but he was fascinated by its oddity. In Bristol he wrote: "Everything about this society is disagreeable to me – from its limited way of thinking to its indecent manner of cooking vegetables." As often happens when a writer is unhappy, the weather is endlessly bad. Nevertheless, he was rarely bored and was content to stay in England for some fifteen years. "I detest England, but this does not stop me from declaring that as a thinking nation, she is probably the foremost." It may be said that England acted as a constant stimulus and a corrective to Eça's traditionally Portuguese Francophilia.
Eça's politics were liberal, although he was also influenced by the ideas of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. In 1898, upon growing more pessimistic about the future of Portugal and Europe, he described himself as a "vague, saddened anarchist". Together with Ortigão and others he had formed an informal group of intellectuals known as Life's Vanquished.
He had actively sought the position of Portuguese consul-general in Paris and, having obtained it in 1888, remained in post for the rest of his life. He lived at Neuilly-sur-Seine and continued to write journalism as well as literary criticism. He died in 1900 of either tuberculosis or, according to numerous contemporary physicians, Crohn's disease. His son António Eça de Queiroz would hold government office under António de Oliveira Salazar. He was first buried in a family vault in Alto de São João Cemetery and later exhumed and moved to a grave in Santa Cruz do Douro Cemetery, in Baião Municipality, Portugal. His remains were transferred to the Church of Santa Engrácia in January 2025.

Works by Eça de Queiroz

Posthumous works
  • A Cidade e as Serras
  • Contos
  • Cartas de Inglaterra
  • Ecos de Paris
  • Cartas Familiares e Bilhetes de Paris
  • Notas Contemporâneas
  • São Cristóvão, published in English in 2015 as Saint Christopher. Originally published in Portuguese as part of the volume Últimas páginas
  • A Capital
  • O Conde d'Abranhos
  • Alves & C.a. published in English as "The Yellow Sofa", and as "Alves & Co." in 2012 by Dedalus
  • O Egipto
  • ''A Tragédia da Rua das Flores''

Periodicals to which Eça de Queiroz contributed

Translations

The works of Eça have been translated into about 20 languages, including English. Since 2002 English versions of eight of his novels and two volumes of novellas and short stories, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, have been published in the UK by Dedalus Books.
  • A capital : translation by John Vetch, Carcanet Press, 1995.
  • A Cidade e as serras : translation by Roy Campbell, Ohio University Press, 1968.
  • A Ilustre Casa de Ramires : translation by Ann Stevens, Ohio University Press, 1968; translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2017
  • A Relíquia : translation by Aubrey F. Bell, A. A. Knopf, 1925. Also published as The Reliquary, Reinhardt, 1954.
  • A Relíquia : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 1994.
  • A tragédia da rua das Flores : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2000.
  • Alves & Cia : translation by Robert M. Fedorchek, University Press of America, 1988.
  • Cartas da Inglaterra : translation by Ann Stevens, Bodley Head, 1970. Also published as Eça's English Letters, Carcanet Press, 2000.
  • O Crime do Padre Amaro : Versión de Ramón del Valle – Inclan, Editorial Maucci, 1911
  • O Crime do Padre Amaro : translation by Nan Flanagan, Bodley Head, 1962. Also published as The Crime of Father Amaro, Carcanet Press, 2002.
  • O Crime do Padre Amaro : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2002.
  • O Mandarim : translation by Richard Frank Goldman, Ohio University Press, 1965. Also published by Bodley Head, 1966; and Hippocrene Books, 1993.
  • Um Poeta Lírico : translation by Richard Frank Goldman, Ohio University Press, 1965. Also published by Bodley Head, 1966; and Hippocrene Books, 1993.
  • Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura : translation by Richard Frank Goldman, Ohio University Press, 1965. Also published by Bodley Head, 1966; and Hippocrene Books, 1993.
  • José Mathias : translation by Richard Frank Goldman, Ohio University Press, 1965. Also published by Bodley Head, 1966; and Hippocrene Books, 1993.
  • O Mandarim : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Hippocrene Books, 1983.
  • O Mandarim : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2009.
  • José Mathias : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2009.
  • O Defunto : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2009.
  • O Primo Basílio : translation by Mary Jane Serrano, R. F. Fenno & Co., 1896.
  • O Primo Basílio : translation by Roy Campbell, Noonday Press, 1953.
  • O Primo Basílio : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2003.
  • Suave milagre : translation by Edgar Prestage, David Nutt, 1905. Also published as The Fisher of Men, T. B. Mosher, 1905; The Sweetest Miracle, T. B. Mosher, 1906; The Sweet Miracle, B. H. Blakwell, 1914.
  • Os Maias : translation by Ann Stevens and Patricia McGowan Pinheiro, St. Martin's Press, 1965.
  • Os Maias : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, New Directions, 2007.
  • O Defunto : translation by Edgar Prestage, Archibald Constable, 1906.
  • Pacheco : translation by Edgar Prestage, Basil Blackwell, 1922.
  • A Perfeição : translation by Charles Marriott, Selwyn & Blovnt, 1923.
  • José Mathias : translation by Luís Marques, George G. Harap & Co., 1947.
  • Pacheco : translation by Luís Marques, George G. Harap & Co., 1947.
  • Alves & Cia : translation by John Vetch, Carcanet Press, 1993. Also published by New Directions, 1996. Published as Alves & Co. by Dedalus in 2012.
  • Um Poeta Lírico : translation by John Vetch, Carcanet Press, 1993. Also published by New Directions, 1996.
  • José Mathias : translation by Luís Marques, Carcanet Press, 1993. Also published by New Directions, 1996.
  • Pacheco : translation by Luís Marques, Carcanet Press, 1993. Also published by New Directions, 1996.
  • O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, Dedalus Books, 2013
  • São Cristóvão : translation by Gregory Rabassa and Earl E. Fritz, Tagus Press, 2015
  • Adam and Eve in Paradise : translation by Margaret Jull Costa, New Directions, 2025.

Adaptations

You can check out the several Cinema and TV adaptations of Eça's works at the https://www.imdb.com/find/?q=o%20primo%20bas%C3%ADlio%20&ref_=nv_sr_sm
The first adaptation of an Eça de Queirós Novel is probably O Primo Basílio, which was adapted five times https://www.imdb.com/find/?q=o%20primo%20bas%C3%ADlio%20&ref_=nv_sr_sm for Cinema and Television
Os Maias was adapted three Times. The First in 1979 by RTP Rádio e Televisão de Portugal as a 3 episode TV Series. The second in 2001 by Rede Globo as a series, available through Globo's Streaming Service Globoplay. And the third, again by RTP Rádio e Televisão de Portugal in 2015 as a 4 episode TV Series. This series is available on RTPs streaming service RTP Play.

There have been two film versions of O Crime do Padre Amaro, a Mexican one in 2002 and a Portuguese version in 2005 which was edited out of a SIC television series, released shortly after the film. Both these adaptations were modernised versions of the novel. In 2023, it was, again, adapted into a 6 episode TV series for RTP Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, now faithfully set in 1860. Amaro is played by José Condessa, star of Netflix international Hit Turn of the Tide (TV series)
Eça's works have been also adapted on Brazilian television. In 1988 Rede Globo produced O Primo Basílio in 35 episodes. Later, in 2007, a movie adaptation of the same novel was made by director Daniel Filho. In 2001 Rede Globo produced an acclaimed adaptation of Os Maias as a television series in 40 episodes.
A movie adaptation of O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra was produced in 2007. The director had shortly before directed a series inspired in a whodunit involving the descendants of the original novel's characters, and some of the historical flashback scenes of the series were used in the new movie. The movie was more centered on Eça's and Ramalho Ortigão's writing and publishing of the original serial and the controversy it created and less around the book's plot itself.
In September 2014, film director João Botelho released the film Os Maias based on the novel with the same name Os Maias. The film cost a million and a half euros, having €600,000 from the Instituto do Cinema e Audiovisual, €170,000 from Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, €120,000 from Agência Nacional do Cinema, and a good part from Montepio Geral, as well as the purchase by RTP of the rights for the mini-series. The filming happened between 14 October and 22 December in 2013, and was shot in Ponte de Lima, Celorico de Basto, Guimarães and Lisbon.
Galleon Theatre Company, the resident producing company at the Greenwich Playhouse, London, has staged theatre adaptations by Alice de Sousa of Eça de Queiroz' novels. In 2001 the company presented Cousin Basílio, and in 2002 The Maias.