Lisbon Story

Saramago Route

In 1998, he was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature.

About this route

Biography José Saramago

José Saramago was born on 16th November 1922 in Azinhaga, a village in the province of Ribatejo that was as humble as his own family. Although he grew up in a house without books, he soon fell in love with them. He first came into contact with literature at school, but later, when he had to leave to start work as a toolmaker, the thrall in which books held him ensured he was a regular visitor to his local library.

Intellectually curious, the young Saramago became an autodidact and a man committed to the causes of his time. An opponent of Salazar and his dictatorship, he joined the Communist Party in 1969. He was also a staunch critic of the Catholic Church, the target of choice of some of the books he would later write, such as “Baltasar and Blimunda” (1982), “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ” (1991) and “Cain” (2009).

Until devoting himself fully to his literary career, which he did from 1976 onwards, he had various professions. He was a draughtsman, health and social worker, translator, editor and journalist.

His first novel, “Land of Sin”, dates from 1947. It took him another 19 years to publish his second book, a volume of poetry called “Possible Poems”. In the years that followed, his literary output was regular and wide-ranging, encompassing fields as varied as poetry, novels, short stories and plays.

As a novelist, he achieved recognition when he won the “Cidade de Lisboa” award for “Raised from the Ground”, which became an international bestseller. For the novel “Baltasar and Blimunda” (1982), considered his most iconic work, he received the “Pen Clube Português” award. “The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis” (1984) won the “Prémio da Crítica”, “Prémio Dom Diniz”, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the “Pen Clube Português” award again.

A year later, he was made a Commander of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (in 1998 he was promoted to the rank of a Grand Collar of the same Order, an honour generally reserved only for heads of state). In 1995, he was awarded the highest accolade in Portuguese literature, the “Prémio Camões”, and three years later won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Translated into 42 languages, his work began to gain recognition from the film industry in 2008 when his novel “Blindness” (1995), directed by Fernando Meirelles, was adapted for the big screen. This was followed in 2010 by the film adaptation of a short story from the book “The Lives of Things” which was made into the film “Embargo” by the Portuguese director António Ferreira.

After marrying his second wife, the Spanish journalist Pilar del Rio, he settled in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, in 1993. Always aware of the world around him, his literary achievements never prevented him from devoting his energies to the causes which interested him. In 2007, he set up the Fundação José Saramago to defend and disseminate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and environmental problems, but he did not live long enough to witness its inauguration in 2012 at the Casa dos Bicos in Lisbon.

He died in Spain on 18th June 2010, but the foundation he gave his name to continues to promote the cultural and social project presided over by his wife, Pilar del Rio.

Synopsis of Baltasar And Blimunda

Published in 1982, “Baltasar and Blimunda” is José Saramago’s most iconic novel. Translated into more than 20 languages, in over 50 editions, it examines a recurring theme in the writer’s work: the clash between rich and poor, the exploiter and the exploited.

The story takes place in the 18th century during the reign of João V, the king responsible for building the Monastery of Mafra, an enormous project paid for out of the gold imported from Brazil, which at the time was a Portuguese colony.

The contrast between the king’s megalomania and the misery of the common people who built the monastery runs through the whole novel and is scathingly evoked by the writer. And, inevitably, in the midst of all this, an enchanting love story unfolds.

Characters from de novel "Baltasar e Blimunda"

Blimunda de Jesus or Blimunda Seven-Moons

A young peasant woman with the ability to read people’s minds and perceive their desires.

The narrator states that the heroine of “Baltasar and Blimunda” came by her extraordinary powers while in her mother’s belly, where she waited with her eyes wide open. She meets Baltasar at an auto-de-fé and falls head-over-heels in love.

Baltasar Mateus or Baltasar Seven-Suns

Left to fend for himself by the army during the War of the Spanish Succession after he lost his left hand, he meets Blimunda when he arrives in Lisbon and immediately falls in love.

A simple, loyal and loving man, he accepts what life brings with the resignation of the humble. He dies at the stake at an auto-de-fé.

King João V

Presented as a caricature figure, especially when describing his least ingratiating qualities, he represents absolute power, for which the ends justify the means.

It is under his orders that the megalomaniacal project to build the Monastery of Mafra is started, under the pretext of a vow made to the clergy to guarantee the succession to the throne.

Maria-Ana of Austria

A woman of her age, her marriage to João V is one of convenience and the only means of self-affirmation in their loveless union is through motherhood. She is therefore obsessed with her fertility and when she becomes pregnant, after long and anxious novenas, she believes God is responsible.

She has sinful thoughts about her brother-in-law which make her feel guilty and cause her to redouble her prayers.

Sebastiana Maria de Jesus

The daughter of New Christians, she is persecuted and convicted by the Inquisition. Accused of blasphemy and heresy, she appears before an auto-de-fé in Rossio where she is whipped and later deported to Angola.

She bids her daughter Blimunda farewell telepathically so as not to shame her in public. It is through her that Blimunda meets Baltasar.

Padre Bartolomeu de Gusmão

Gifted with a scientific mind, he is detached from the religious fanaticism of his age. He nurtures the dream of building a flying machine, from which comes his nickname the “Flying Man”.

At the start, he enjoys royal protection for his daring project, but is later left dependent on the help of his loyal friends Baltasar and Blimunda.

He manages to fly up to the heavens, but is eventually persecuted by the Inquisition, accused of witchcraft. He flees to Spain where he eventually dies. Unlike the other characters in the book, Bartolomeu de Gusmão actually existed in real life.

Domenico Scarlatti

Held the position of chapel master and teacher to the Royal Household from 1720 to 1729.

Though hired by the king, he is enough of a free spirit to secretly aid the flying passarola project and on one occasion even manages to cure Blimunda through his music, becoming her friend.

Like Bartolomeu de Gusmão, this character, though fictionalised in “Baltasar and Blimunda”, existed in real life.

The Common People

The weakest link, consisting of the poor exposed to the harshest trials and tribulations. Sometimes it is the source of surprising figures, brave and resilient souls who are driven by the purest sentiments of genuine love and friendship. This is the case with Blimunda and Baltasar, examples of the noblest spirit human nature has to offer.

The Clergy

José Saramago is implacable in his attitude towards the Catholic Church, a target he takes aim at in several of his books.

In “Baltasar and Blimunda”, whose action takes place at the height of the Inquisition, the trail of immorality left by the powerful is clearly visible. The picture painted of the clergy is one of truly overwhelming cruelty and hypocrisy and the concentration of power.

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