Fernando Pessoa
(1888–1935)

The prominent poet Fernando Pessoa was born in Lisbon, Portugal, but grew up and obtained his education in South Africa. Inspired by Shakespeare, he began to write English sonnets at the young age of fifteen. These poems were eventually published in 1918 as the collection Thirty-Five Sonnets.

By 1915, Pessoa's approach to poetry was more progressive. He explored the intangibility of personal identity and the confines of self-perception by creating seventy-three different names under which he authored his writing. But to Pessoa, each name represented a distinct personality, each possessing its own individual style, biography, and outward appearance.

The most well known of Pessoa's poets, which he called heteronyms, were Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Alvaro de Campos. However, many believe his best poetry was published under his own name, including collections such as Antinous (1918), English Poems (1921), and Mensagem (1934). Pessoa's work is remembered for its modernist style in which he objectifies the self and examines the philosophical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of the time.

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