Editing José Saramago (section)

==Biography==
===Early and middle life===
Saramago was born in 1922 into a family of very poor landless peasants in [[Azinhaga]], Portugal, a small village in [[Ribatejo Province]], some one hundred kilometres northeast of [[Lisbon]].<ref name=unexpected_fantasist/> His parents were José de Sousa and Maria da Piedade. "Saramago", the Portuguese word for ''[[Raphanus raphanistrum]]'' (wild radish), was the insulting nickname given to his father, and was accidentally incorporated into his name by the village clerk upon registration of his birth.<ref name=unexpected_fantasist/>

In 1924, Saramago's family moved to Lisbon, where his father started working as a policeman. A few months after the family moved to the capital, his brother Francisco, older by two years, died. He spent vacations with his grandparents in Azinhaga. When his grandfather suffered a stroke and was to be taken to Lisbon for treatment, Saramago recalled, "He went into the yard of his house, where there were a few trees, fig-trees, olive trees. And he went one by one, embracing the trees and crying, saying goodbye to them because he knew he would not return. To see this, to live this, if that doesn't mark you for the rest of your life," Saramago said, "you have no feeling."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1998/lecture-e.html |title=Nobel Lecture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215031334/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1998/lecture-e.html |archive-date=15 December 2010 |publisher=Nobel Committee}}</ref> Although Saramago was a good pupil, his parents were unable to afford to keep him in grammar school, and instead moved him to a technical school at age 12.

After graduating as a [[Lathe|lathe operator]], he worked as a car mechanic for two years. At this time Saramago had acquired a taste for reading and started to frequent a public library in Lisbon in his free time. He married [[w:pt:Ilda Reis|Ilda Reis]], a typist and later artist, in 1944 (they divorced in 1970). Their only daughter, Violante, was born in 1947.<ref name=unexpected_fantasist/> By this time he was working in the Social Welfare Service as a civil servant. Later he worked at the publishing company ''Estúdios Cor'' as an editor and translator, and then as a journalist. By that time, in 1968, he met and became lover of writer [[Isabel da Nóbrega]], the longtime partner of author and critic [[w:pt:João Gaspar Simões|João Gaspar Simões]]. Nóbrega became Saramago's devoted literary mentor, to whom he would later dedicate ''Memorial do Convento'' and ''O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis''.

After the [[Carnation Revolution|democratic revolution in 1974]], on 9 April 1975, during the rule of [[Vasco Gonçalves]], Saramago became the assistant director of the newspaper ''[[Diário de Notícias]]'', and the editorial line became clearly pro-communist. A group of 30 journalists – half the editorial staff – handed the board a petition calling for the editorial line to be revised and for it to be published. A plenary was called and, following an angry intervention by Saramago, 24 journalists were expelled, accused of being right-wingers. After the [[Coup of 25 November 1975]] that put an end to the communist [[Processo Revolucionário Em Curso|PREC]], Saramago, in turn, was fired from the newspaper.<ref>{{cite news |first=Carla|last=Aguiar |url=https://www.dn.pt/portugal/o--director--que-marcou-o-verao-quente-de-1975-1597476.html |title=O director que marcou o 'verão quente' de 1975 |location=Lisboa |newspaper=Diário de Notícias |date=19 June 2010 |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref>

Saramago published his first novel, ''[[Land of Sin]]'', in 1947. It remained his only published literary work until a poetry book, ''Possible Poems'', was published in 1966. It was followed by another book of poems, ''Probably Joy'', in 1970, three collections of newspaper articles in 1971, 1973 and 1974 respectively, and the long poem ''The Year of 1993'' in 1975. A collection of political writing was published in 1976 under the title ''Notes''. After his dismissal from ''Diário de Notícias'' in 1975, Saramago embraced his writing more seriously and in following years he published a series of important works including ''Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia'' (1977), ''Objecto Quase'' (1978), ''Levantado do Chão'' (1980) and ''Viagem a Portugal'' (1981).

===Later life and international acclaim===
[[File:1999-Saramago a Siena.jpg|thumb|José Saramago in 1999.]]
Saramago did not achieve widespread recognition and acclaim until he was sixty, with the publication of his fourth novel, ''Memorial do Convento'' (1982). A [[baroque]] tale set during the Inquisition in 18th-century Lisbon, it tells of the love between a maimed soldier and a young clairvoyant, and of a renegade priest's heretical dream of flight. The novel's translation in 1988 as ''[[Baltasar and Blimunda]]'' (by [[Giovanni Pontiero]]) brought Saramago to the attention of an international readership.<ref name=unexpected_fantasist/><ref name=new_ways_of_seeing>{{cite news |first=Maya |last=Jaggi |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/nov/22/jose-saramago-blindness-nobel |title=New ways of seeing |location=London |newspaper=The Guardian |date=22 November 2008 |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> This novel won the Portuguese PEN Club Award.

Following acclaimed novels such as ''[[The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis]]'' and ''[[The History of the Siege of Lisbon]]'', Saramago was hailed by literary critics for his complex yet elegant style, his broad range of references and his wit.<ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jose-saramago/the-history-of-the-siege-of-lisbon/ The History of the Siege of Lisbon by José Saramago] Kirkus Reviews 1 May 1997</ref>

For the former novel, Saramago received the British [[Independent Foreign Fiction Prize]]. The multilayered ''The History of the Siege of Lisbon'' deals with the uncertainty of historical events and includes the story of a middle-aged isolated proofreader who falls in love with his boss. Saramago acknowledged that there is a lot of himself in the protagonist of the novel, and dedicated the novel to his wife.<ref>[https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1032/the-art-of-fiction-no-155-jose-saramago José Saramago, The Art of Fiction No. 155] Paris Review 1998</ref>

In 1986 Saramago met a Spanish intellectual and journalist, [[Pilar del Río]], 27 years his junior, and he promptly ended his relationship with Isabel Nóbrega, his partner since 1968.<ref>{{cite news |first=Joana Emídio |last=Marques |url=https://observador.pt/especiais/isabel-da-nobrega-do-musa-saramago-apagou-da-historia/ |title=Isabel da Nóbrega, a musa que Saramago apagou da (sua) história |location=Lisboa |newspaper=Observador |date=30 May 2015 |access-date=26 September 2021}}</ref> They married in 1988 and remained together until his death in June 2010. Del Río is the official translator of Saramago's books into Spanish.

Saramago joined the [[Portuguese Communist Party]] in 1969 and remained a member until the end of his life.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1998/bio-bibl.html |title=Nobel Prize citation, 1998 |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=20 June 2010}}</ref> He was a self-confessed [[Pessimism|pessimist]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Langer |url=http://www.bookmagazine.com/issue25/saramago.shtml |title=José Saramago: Prophet of Doom – Pessimism is our only hope. The gospel according to José Saramago |work=Book Magazine |date=November–December 2002 |access-date=20 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021031062736/http://www.bookmagazine.com/issue25/saramago.shtml |archive-date=31 October 2002}}</ref> His views aroused considerable controversy in Portugal, especially after the publication of ''[[The Gospel According to Jesus Christ]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Austin |last=Paige |url=http://www.yalereviewofbooks.com/archive/winter03/review12.shtml.htm |title=Shadows on the Wall: Jose Saramago's latest novel depicts a capitalist nightmare |work=The Yale Review of Books |publisher=Yalereviewofbooks.com |date=Spring 2004 |access-date=20 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901072401/http://www.yalereviewofbooks.com/archive/winter03/review12.shtml.htm |archive-date=1 September 2010}}</ref> Members of the country's Catholic community were outraged by Saramago's representation of [[Jesus]] and particularly [[God]] as fallible, even cruel human beings. Portugal's conservative government, led by then-prime minister [[Aníbal Cavaco Silva]], did not allow Saramago's work to compete for the [[Aristeion Prize]],<ref name=unexpected_fantasist/> arguing that it offended the Catholic community. As a result, Saramago and his wife moved to [[Lanzarote]], an island in the Canaries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1998/saramago-autobio.html |title=José Saramago: Autobiography |year=1998 |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=20 June 2010}}</ref>

In 1998 Saramago was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] with the prize motivation: "who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality."<ref name="nobel">[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1998/saramago/biographical/ José Saramago Biography] Nobel Prize.org</ref>

Saramago was expected to speak as the guest of honour at the European Writers' Parliament in 2010, which was convened in Istanbul following a proposal he had co-authored. However, Saramago died before the event took place.<ref>{{cite news |first=William |last=Wall |author-link=William Wall (writer) |url=http://www.irishleftreview.org/2010/12/01/complexity-istanbul-declaration-european-writers-conference/ |title=The Complexity of Others: The Istanbul Declaration of The European Writers' Conference |newspaper=Irish Left Review |date=1 December 2010 |access-date=1 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802041041/http://www.irishleftreview.org/2010/12/01/complexity-istanbul-declaration-european-writers-conference/ |archive-date=2 August 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Death and funeral===
[[File:Saramago.jpg|thumb|left|"Thank you José Saramago", [[Lisbon]], October 2010]]
Saramago suffered from [[leukemia]]. He died on 18 June 2010, aged 87, having spent the last few years of his life in [[Lanzarote]], Spain.<ref name=lea_dies>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Lea |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jun/18/jose-saramago-writer-nobel-dies |title=Nobel laureate José Saramago dies, aged 87 |location=London |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 June 2010 |access-date=18 June 2010}}</ref> His family said that he had breakfast and chatted with his wife and translator Pilar del Río on Friday morning, after which he started feeling unwell and died.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article472336.ece |title=Nobel-wiining[sic] novelist Saramago dies aged 87 |location=Chennai |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=18 June 2010 |access-date=18 June 2010}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' described him as "the finest Portuguese writer of his generation",<ref name=lea_dies/> while Fernanda Eberstadt of ''[[The New York Times]]'' said he was "known almost as much for his unfaltering [[Communism]] as for his fiction".<ref name=eberstadt_dies>{{cite news |first=Fernanda |last=Eberstadt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/books/19saramago.html?src=mv |title=José Saramago, Nobel Prize-Winning Writer, Dies |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 June 2010 |access-date=18 June 2010}}</ref>

Saramago's English language translator, [[Margaret Jull Costa]], paid tribute to his "wonderful imagination," calling him "the greatest contemporary Portuguese writer".<ref name=lea_dies/> Saramago continued his writing until his death. His most recent publication, ''Claraboia'', was published posthumously in 2011. Saramago had suffered from [[pneumonia]] a year before his death. Assuming a full recovery, he was set to appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2010.<ref name=lea_dies/>

Portugal declared two days of mourning.<ref name=china_post_portugal_mourns>{{cite news |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/celebrity-news/2010/06/21/261516/Portugal-mourns.htm |title=Portugal mourns as Nobel laureate's body returned |newspaper=[[The China Post]] |date=21 June 2010 |access-date=21 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730015124/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/celebrity-news/2010/06/21/261516/portugal-mourns.htm |archive-date=30 July 2017}}</ref><ref name=president_no-show/> There were tributes from senior international politicians: [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] (Brazil), [[Bernard Kouchner]] (France) and [[José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero]] (Spain), while Cuba's [[Raúl Castro|Raúl]] and [[Fidel Castro]] sent flowers.<ref name=china_post_portugal_mourns/>

Saramago's funeral was held in Lisbon on 20 June 2010, in the presence of more than 20,000 people, many of whom had travelled hundreds of kilometres, but also notably in the absence of right-wing [[President of Portugal]] [[Aníbal Cavaco Silva]], who was holidaying in the [[Azores]] as the ceremony took place.<ref name=xinhua_funeral>{{cite news |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2010-06/21/c_13359797.htm |title=Portuguese Nobel laureate Saramago's funeral held |work=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |date=21 June 2010 |access-date=21 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623123203/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/culture/2010-06/21/c_13359797.htm |archive-date=23 June 2010}}</ref> Cavaco Silva, the Prime Minister who removed Saramago's work from the shortlist of the [[Aristeion Prize]], said he did not attend Saramago's funeral because he "had never had the privilege to know him".<ref name=president_no-show>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10364807.stm |title=President defends Jose Saramago funeral no-show |work=[[BBC News]] |date=21 June 2010 |access-date=21 June 2010}}</ref> In an official press release, Cavaco Silva claimed having paid homage to the literary work of Saramago.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Correia |first=Hugo |date=June 20, 2010 |title=Saramago: Cavaco Silva diz ter cumprido obrigações como Presidente |url=https://www.publico.pt/2010/06/20/culturaipsilon/noticia/saramago-cavaco-silva-diz-ter-cumprido-obrigacoes-como-presidente-1442805 |access-date=July 26, 2024 |work=Público}}</ref> Mourners, who questioned Cavaco Silva's absence in the presence of reporters,<ref name=president_no-show/> held copies of the red carnation, symbolic of [[Carnation Revolution|Portugal's democratic revolution]].<ref name=xinhua_funeral/> Saramago's cremation took place in Lisbon,<ref name=xinhua_funeral/> and his ashes were buried on the anniversary of his death, 18 June 2011, underneath a hundred-year-old olive tree on the square in front of the José Saramago Foundation (Casa dos Bicos).<ref>Cinzas de Saramago são depositadas aos pés de uma oliveira, em Lisboa UOL (18 de junho de 2011).</ref>

[[File:Grave Memorial of José Saramago 04.jpg|thumb|right|Burial place of José Saramago's ashes.]]