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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

João de Araújo Correia

João de Araújo Correia 1899-1985 Doctor and writer

""He is not the master of Régua, as painters would say back in the obscure 15th century, the master of Ferreirim or Linhares.
Rather, the master of us all, who have strived for fifty years in this ungrateful and arduous task of writing,
and whether we are old, glorious or disgraceful, it hardly matters; he is the master of all those who landed in the interlude of
literary art lacking grammar, syntax, good sense, and without rhyme or reason; and a master to all those who will
have to free themselves from their unbearable skills to produce serious and lasting works".
(A speech made by Aquilino Ribeiro at the tribute paid to João Araújo Correia at the Portuguese Society of Writers)

João Maria de Araújo Correia was born on 1 January 1899 at Casa da Fonte, in the parish of Canelas do Douro, Peso da Régua, to a modest family.
He was the son of António da Silva Correia, a legal counsellor, and of his second wife, Maria Emília de Araújo, and brother of Amélia and Maria Ana.
At the age of three, the family moved to Régua, but returned to Canelas in 1913 after the death of his aunt, Maria Soledade.

He inherited from his father a taste for the work of Camilo Castelo Branco, author of "Mistérios de Fafe", the first book he read at the age of eight.

In 1910, he completed primary education in Peso da Régua, sat and passed the final exams at the Normal School of Vila Real.
In 1912, in the 5th grade, he sat the English and French exams at Vila Real High School.

He completed high school in 1915, at the Porto Academic School, and at the age of 16 enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, following his father's wishes.

In his third year at university, an illness forced him to interrupt his studies, an interruption that lasted six years, during which he published verses and chronicles in the newspapers of Régua.

He married Maria da Luz de Matos Silva, from his hometown, but born in Poiares, on 8 October 1922. They had six children: Maria da Soledade, Camilo, Rosa, Maria Emília, João Maria and Maria Virgínia.

He resumed his studies at a later stage, supporting himself and his family tutoring secondary education students.

At the faculty, he was taught by the chemist Ferreira da Silva, the histologist Abel Salazar and the psychiatrist Magalhães Lemos.

He completed the General Physician course in 1927 and in the following year opened his practice in Régua, where he would work for the rest of his life as a true country doctor. In any case, his professional activity never stopped him from writing. On the contrary, it provided him with many of the themes that were most dear to him: the portraits of people from Douro and the life of the small town bourgeoisie.

In the 1930s, he wrote chronicles for the newspaper "O Mundo de Lisboa" (1932), his parents and gis two spinster sisters moved in after they lost their farm (1933), and along with two friends he founded the company "Imprensa do Douro", in Régua (1935). He published his first literary reflections ("Linguagem Médica Popular Usada no Alto Douro" [Popular Medical Jargon used in High Douro], 1936) and his first book - "Sem Método – notas sertanejas" [No Method – notes from the countryside] (1938).

He wrote more than 40 books between 1938 and 1980, in addition to articles and lectures published in local, regional and national newspapers, such as O Primeiro de Janeiro, O Comércio do Porto, and Jornal de Notícias.
In 1969, he received the National Novel Prize and in 1984 his short story "Miguel" inspired the making of "Azul, azul", a film by Sá Caetano, shown at the Figueira da Foz Film Festival.
The life he led didn’t allow much travelling, yet he came to know the country very well and managed to visit Spain and part of France.

He died on 31 December 1985 at home, and was buried the following day, when he would turn 87, in Canelas do Douro.

The prose and short story writer, whom some considered the greatest in Portuguese literature, left many and varied literary works: short stories, chronicles, novels, writings on the study of Portuguese, comments on the work of Camilo Castelo Branco, letter writing (he exchanged letters with Egas Moniz, Irene Lisboa, Ricardo Jorge, Júlio Brandão, Júlio Dantas, Aquilino Ribeiro, Norton de Matos, Gago Coutinho, Pina de Morais, Leite de Vasconcelos, Abade de Baçal, António Sérgio, D. João de Castro, Abel Salazar, Carlos de Passos, among others) and collaborative work with the press.

His work was much influenced by writers such as Camilo Castelo Branco, Júlio Dinis and Trindade Coelho, among others, and although it is not generally known to the public, it was analysed and studied by authors such as Amorim de Carvalho, Cruz Malpique, Guedes de Amorim, João Pedro de Andrade, João Bigotte Chorão and Mário Dias Ramos.

Those who knew him well say he was a learned and polite man, passionate about trees and devoted to his family, whom he supported and helped in hard times.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2010)