Alexandre Herculano
Alexandre Herculano de Carvalho e Araújo (1810-1877) was a prominent Portuguese author, historian, and public servant, recognized as the founder of Portuguese Romanticism. Often compared to Victor Hugo, Herculano is celebrated for his engaging writing style and for contributing significantly to the development of modern Portuguese literature. He introduced the historical novel to Portugal, inspired by the works of Sir Walter Scott, and challenged traditional narratives by providing a secular and objective account of Portuguese history, countering the prevalent hagiographic legends.
Herculano's early life was marked by exile in England and France due to his involvement in a rebellion against the absolutist rule of Dom Miguel. After returning to Portugal, he supported the liberal regime established by Dom Pedro and initiated the literary review magazine O Panorama, which served as a platform for his historical fiction. Throughout his political life, Herculano advocated for democratic reforms and opposed clerical authority, believing it undermined liberalism. Although he experienced significant opposition, Herculano's literary and historical contributions left a lasting impact on Portuguese culture. He spent his later years on a farm in Santarém, continuing his advocacy until his death from pneumonia in 1877.
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Subject Terms
Alexandre Herculano
Historian
- Born: March 28, 1810
- Birthplace: Lisbon, Portugal
- Died: September 13, 1877
- Place of death: Vale de Lobos, Portugal
Biography
Portuguese author, public servant, historian, and liberal democratic activist Alexandre Herculano de Carvalho e Araújo, born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1810, is considered the founder of Portuguese Romanticism and is thought of by many as Portugal’s equivalent of Victor Hugo—revered both for the appealing character of his writing and for his role in developing a strong and contemporary national literature. Herculano introduced the historical novel in the style of Sir Walter Scott to Portugal and produced one of the first secular, objective narratives of Portuguese history, working to counteract the hagiographic national legends popular in strongly Catholic Portugal.
Herculano spent his formative years in exile in England and France for participating in a rebellion against the absolutism of Dom Miguel. Herculano joined the army of Dom Pedro, returning to Portugal and working for the liberal regime Pedro established after ousting Miguel from power in 1832. Attempting to create a cultural movement to parallel Pedro’s political one, Herculano established the literary review magazine O Panorama, which ran for three years between 1837 and 1839. The magazine covered European literary culture, but also provided a platform for Herculano to publish his first experiments with historical fiction.
In 1839, Herculano closed down the magazine to become librarian at the Royal Library of Ajuda and to work on an ambitious, multi-volume history of Portugal, the first volume of which was published in 1846. His history took a liberal-secular approach, challenging the ecclesiastical spin which Portuguese legend had conventionally taken. The controversy and opposition provoked by his approach marked the beginning of Herculano’s opposition to clerical institutions, which he considered a significant enemy to liberalism.
Herculano was elected to parliament in 1840 and served for a year, working for democratic reform of the educational system, before the authoritarian regime of Costa Cabral began. Herculano worked against Cabral, supporting the Regeneration movement that eventually defeated Cabral in 1851. Herculano again formed newspapers to support the new government, but spent most of his personal energy completing the last volume of his history of Portugal in 1853 and then writing an extensive history of the Inquisition which he completed in 1859.
Although Herculano’s influence on Portuguese literature was significant, he was unable during his lifetime to realize his liberal ideals. In the late 1850’s, he took the royalties from his books and bought a farm in Santarém. He retired to the farm in 1868, the year after his marriage to Mariana Hermínia Meira. He continued his advocacy against clerical power until his death in 1877 from a case of pneumonia contracted on a trip to Lisbon to meet with Brazilian emperor Pedro II.