born June 13, 1888, Lisbon, Port.
died Nov. 30, 1935, Lisbon
Portuguese poet.
While living in South Africa, where his stepfather was Portugal's consul, Pessoa became fluent in English. On returning to Lisbon he worked as a translator while contributing to avant-garde reviews, especially Orpheu (1915), the organ of Brazilian-Portuguese Modernismo, of which he became a leading aesthetician. Only after his death did the rich dream world of his poetry, peopled with fictional alter egos called "heteronyms," become well known. His important volumes include Poesias de Fernando Pessoa (1942), Poesias de Álvaro de Campos (1944), Poemas de Alberto Caeiro (1946), and Odes de Ricardo Reis (1946).