Person · Portuguese epic poet · Portugal
Luís Vaz de Camões
Also known as Camoens, Camões
Luís Vaz de Camões (c.1524-10 June 1580) is the national poet of Portugal and the author of Os Lusíadas (1572), the ten-canto epic of Vasco da Gama's 1497-99 voyage to India that is the foundational text of Portuguese literature. He lived in Portuguese Goa and Macao between 1553 and 1570, exiled from the Lisbon court after a street brawl; his manuscript of the Lusiads is traditionally said to have survived a shipwreck off the Mekong when he swam ashore holding it above his head. The 1572 publication led to a royal pension, which did not however prevent him from dying in poverty in Lisbon during the plague.
- Date
- 1524–1580
- Function
- Learning & scholarship
- Patron dynasty
- Portuguese crown
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (1)
- Life routeOld Goa
Camões lived in Portuguese Goa and Macao between 1553 and 1570 after being exiled from Lisbon for a street brawl; much of Os Lusíadas was written during the Goa years. His manuscript is said to have survived a shipwreck off the Mekong on his return voyage.
Sources
Standard biography.
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