by Jorge de Sena

Jorge de Sena (1919-78), poet, short fiction writer, novelist, playwright, critic, essayist, translator, biographer, and cultural historian, is one of Portugal’s preeminent men of letters. Formally trained in both the sciences and humanities, he became the leading scholar on Portugal’s two major poets, Luis de Camões and Fernando Pessoa (see The Lusiads and Message, respectively; also in WLAIT 5: Spanish and Portuguese Literatures and Their Times). Sena emigrated from Portugal in 1959 to escape the fascist Salazar regime. Moving to Brazil, he became a professor at the State University of São Paulo, Araraquara. In 1965, after becoming a Brazilian citizen, Sena emigrated once again, this time to escape the military dictatorship in Brazil. Moving to the United States, he continued his academic career, first at the University of Wisconsin and then...