Torga, Miguel

▪ 1996

      (ADOLFO CORREIA DA ROCHA), Portuguese poet and diarist (b. Aug. 12, 1907, São Matinho de Anta, Port.—d. Jan. 17, 1995, Coimbra, Port.), wrote poetry and fiction that reflected his love for Portugal—in particular, for his boyhood home in Trás-os-Montes, a harsh, poverty-stricken rural province in northern Portugal—and his more universal concerns about human suffering and despair in the modern world. He graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Coimbra (1933) and went on to establish a private practice in otolaryngology in that city. While still a medical student, he founded a literary magazine, Presença, and published his first book of poetry, Ansiedade (1928), under his real name. Later verse collections, which were published under his pen name, include Libertação (1944), Orfeu rebelde (1958), and Poemas ibéricos (1965). He also wrote short stories, plays, and novels, notably Contos da montanha (1941; Tales from the Mountain, 1991) and the autobiographical novel A criação do mundo (1935). Torga was particularly admired among young Portuguese for his 16-volume Diário (1941-94), which he began in 1938 and in which he mixed poetry and stories amid the details and personal musings about daily life.

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▪ Portuguese poet and diarist

pseudonym of  Adolfo Correia da Rocha  

born Aug. 12, 1907, São Martinho de Anta, Port.

died Jan. 17, 1995, Coimbra

      poet and diarist whose forceful and highly individual literary style and treatment of universal themes make him one of the most important writers in 20th-century Portuguese literature.

      Torga embarked on his literary career while a medical student at the University of Coimbra. After graduation he continued to write and publish while maintaining an active medical practice. In 1927 he was one of the founders of the literary magazine Presença (“Presence”); the next year his first volume of poetry, Ansiedade (“Anxiety”), was published.

      Much of Torga's work—which includes novels, plays, and short stories as well as the poems and his Diário, 16 vol. (1941–93; “Diary”), for which he is best known—has as its subject the search for certainties in a changing world. His diary reveals a deeply religious man with a robust faith in the virtues of humanity. Notable among his fiction are the autobiographical novel A criacão do mundo (1935; The Creation of the World) and the short stories in Montanha (1941; “The Mountain”) and Novos contos do montanha (1944; “New Tales of the Mountain”).

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