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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Alexandre Pinheiro Torres

Alexandre Pinheiro Torres 1921-1999 Teacher, writer, literary critic and translator

The son of João Maria Pinheiro Torres and Margarida Francisco da Silva Pinheiro Torres, Alexandre Maria Pinheiro Torres was born in Amarante on 27 December 1921.

He completed his undergraduate degree in Physical-Chemical Sciences at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto and later completed his degree in Historical-Philosophical Sciences at the University of Coimbra.

He lived in Amarante, Póvoa de Varzim, Lisbon, and Porto, in the Island of S. Tomé and in Coimbra. Here, he met several poets of his time, the works of which were compiled in the Novo Cancioneiro.

He was a high school teacher, a writer (poet and novelist) and collaborated in various periodical publications such as Seara Nova, Gazeta Musical e de Todas as Artes, O Jornal de Letras e Artes e Ideias, and the magazine A Serpente, which he helped to found. He was also dedicated to the History of Literature, literary critique and the translation of many foreign works, namely of reputed artists such as Ernest Hemingway and D. H. Lawrence.

In 1965, he was appointed member of the Jury of the Fiction Award, of the Portuguese Association of Writers, and proposed that the prize be given to the book Luuanda, by Luandino Vieira, who was at the time imprisoned in Tarrafal, accused of terrorism. This political and cultural decision brought on his arrest, along with 4 other members of the jury, he was forbidden to teach in Portugal, and so went into exile. However, Alexandre Pinheiro Torres was very proud of his own attitude.

In 1965, he received many invitations to teach abroad. He accepted the invitation made by the University of Cardiff, in Wales, where he was welcomed in particular by Professor Stephen Reckert, a man who marked him strongly. In Cardiff, in 1970, he created the chair Portuguese-speaking African Literature, the first of its kind in British universities, and founded the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies.
He only returned to Portugal on transit or vacation.

He died on 3 August 1999 of a prolonged illness, already retired from the University of Cardiff, where he left an indelible testimony of life and professionalism.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2008)