Luís de Camões
c. 1524 – 10 June 1580
Luís Vaz de Camões was Portugal's greatest poet, author of the national epic Os Lusíadas, which celebrates Vasco da Gama's voyage to India. He spent some seventeen years in Portuguese Asia as a soldier and minor official before returning to Lisbon to publish his epic in 1572. The anniversary of his death, 10 June, is commemorated as Portugal's national day.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Luís de Camões.
- Andrea Palladio (1508–1580) Overlapped 56 years →
- Gerardus Mercator (1512–1594) Overlapped 56 years →
- Ambroise Paré (1510–1590) Overlapped 56 years →
- Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589) Overlapped 56 years →
- Li Shizhen (1518–1593) Overlapped 56 years →
- Sen no Rikyu (1522–1591) Overlapped 56 years →
Life events
Camões was born around 1524, probably in Lisbon, into a family of the minor gentry; details of his birth are not documented.
Camões received a thorough classical education, traditionally associated with the University of Coimbra, though no enrollment records survive.
Serving as a soldier at Ceuta in the late 1540s, Camões lost the sight of his right eye, an injury usually attributed to combat.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgOn 16 June 1552 Camões was jailed for wounding a court servant in a street brawl during a religious procession; he was pardoned the following year.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgIn March 1553 Camões embarked for Goa as a common soldier, beginning some seventeen years in Portuguese Asia.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAccording to tradition, Camões was shipwrecked around 1558-1559 off the coast of Indochina and swam ashore holding the manuscript of Os Lusíadas above the water.
After years in Goa, Macau, and Mozambique, Camões arrived back in Lisbon in 1570, carrying the completed manuscript of his epic.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCamões's epic poem Os Lusíadas, celebrating the Portuguese voyages of discovery, was printed in Lisbon in 1572.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgIn 1572 King Sebastian awarded Camões a modest annual pension in recognition of Os Lusíadas and his services in India.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCamões died in poverty in Lisbon on 10 June 1580; the date is now commemorated as Portugal's national day.
Source: en.wikipedia.org