Luís de Camões is the major figure of the Portuguese Renaissance and one of the most important writers in the Portuguese language. Although he wrote lyric poetry and dramas, Camões is internationally recognized as the author of the epic poem Os Lusíadas (The Lusíads, 1572), which is considered his masterpiece and has been translated into several languages. No other Portuguese author has maintained the prestige that Camões has over the centuries.

Although little is known about the writer's personal life, most scholars agree that Luís Vaz de Camões was born in 1524, possibly in Lisbon, and that his name is of Galician origin. His grandparents, Antão Vaz de Camões and Guiomar Vaz da Gama, lived in Vilar de Nantes, a village in the vicinity of Chaves. Camões's parents...