{{Short description|Portuguese neorealist writer (1911–1969)}} {{Infobox person |name = António Alves Redol |image = Alves Redol - San Payo (Arquivo de Documentação Fotográfica, DGPC).png |image_size = |caption = Alves Redol, portrait by San Payo |birth_name = |birth_date = 29 December 1911 |birth_place = Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal |death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|11|29|1911|12|29|df=y}} |death_place = Lisbon, Portugal |occupation = Writer |known_for = |signature = }} '''António Alves Redol''' (29{{nbsp}}December 1911{{snd}}29{{nbsp}}November 1969) was a Portuguese neorealist writer.
==Life== Redol was born in 1911 in Vila Franca de Xira to Antonio Redol da Cruz, a shopkeeper, and Inocência Alves Redol.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.visitbaiao.pt/en/2017/05/08/alves-redol/|title=Alves Redol - Visit Baião|date=2017-05-08|work=Visit Baião|access-date=2018-06-27|language=en-US}}</ref> When he was fifteen, his articles were published in the local weekly newspaper, {{lang|pt|Vida Ribatejana}}. After finishing secondary school in 1927, he traveled to Portuguese Angola where he stayed for three years. His stay in Angola influenced Redol's worldview and later literature.
In 1936, he married Maria dos Santos Mota.
=== Early work, 1930–1940 === Redol published stories in the newspapers {{lang|pt|O Diabo}} and {{lang|pt|Sol Nascente}} in which he identified with the opposition to the Estado Novo. On 29 November 1936, in his first collaboration with {{lang|pt|O Diabo}}, the short story {{lang|pt|Kangondo}} was published. Kangondo had an African feel. Redol continued to work with the newspapers to publish chronicles and tales about the social issues in Ribatejo.
Redol would not become known for his work as a journalist; instead, he became famous for his novels. In 1939, he published his first book, {{lang|pt|Gaibéus}}.<ref>[http://aminhaestante.blogspot.com/2012/04/gaibeus-alves-redol.html Gaibéus - 1939]</ref> According to the author, {{lang|pt|Gaibéus}} was not intended as a piece of art, but rather as a report of the way of life of the peasants in Ribatejo.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.passeiweb.com/estudos/livros/gaibeus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914163141/http://www.passeiweb.com/estudos/livros/gaibeus |archive-date=2016-09-14 |title=Gaibéus, de Alves Redol - Passeiweb}}</ref> This novel started a series of works of fiction depicting the difficult lives of peasants and fishermen in Portugal in the first half of the 20th century: {{lang|pt|Marés}} (1941), {{lang|pt|Avieiros}} (1942), and {{lang|pt|Fanga}} (1943).
=== 1940—1950 === The publication of {{lang|pt|Fanga}} in 1943 coincided with the birth of his only son, António.
Redol's work is characterized by his commitment to study real-world experiences. Redol would meet with agricultural workers, such as the rice field workers near the Tagus river, and hear about their stories and experiences.
At the beginning of the 1940s, he joined the Portuguese Communist Party although it was then illegal to do so. Redol was arrested in May 1944. In November 1945, Redol was called to the Central Committee of the Movement of Democratic Unity ({{lang|pt|Movimento de Unidade Democrática}}) and chose to actively participate in the campaigns for the fake elections held by the Salazar regime.
In 1947, he was nominated for the position of Secretary-General of the Portuguese section of International PEN. In 1948, he participated in the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace held in Wrocław, Poland.
Redol published the novel {{lang|pt|Horizonte Cerrado}} in 1948; it was the first volume of a trilogy about the Portuguese wine-making region of Douro. {{lang|pt|Os Homens e as Sombras}} (1951) and {{lang|pt|Vindima de Sangue}} (1953) completed the self-styled port wine cycle. He won the Ricardo Malheiros Prize for {{lang|pt|Horizonte Cerrado}}.
=== Later work, 1950–1970 === Alves Redol's later works include {{lang|pt|A Barca dos Sete Lemes}} (1958), {{lang|pt|Uma Fenda na Muralha}} (1959), and finally, {{lang|pt|Barranco de Cegos}} (1962), considered the pinnacle of his work.
{{lang|pt|A Barca dos Sete Lemes}} was translated into English by Linton Lomas Barrett and published as ''A Man with Seven Names'' by Knopf in 1964.
Alves Redol died in Lisbon in 1969.
==Works== ===Novels=== *{{lang|pt|Gaibéus}} (1939) *{{lang|pt|Marés}} (1941) *{{lang|pt|Avieiros}} (1942) *{{lang|pt|Fanga}} (1943) *{{lang|pt|Anúncio}} (1945) *{{lang|pt|Porto Manso}} (1946) *{{lang|pt|Horizonte Cerrado}} (1949) *{{lang|pt|Os Homens e as Sombras}} (1951) *{{lang|pt|Vindima de Sangue}} (1953) *{{lang|pt|Olhos de Água}} (1954) *{{lang|pt|A Barca dos Sete Lemes}} (1958) *{{lang|pt|Uma Fenda na Muralha}} (1959) *{{lang|pt|Cavalo Espantado}} (1960) *{{lang|pt|Barranco de Cegos}} (1961) *{{lang|pt|O Muro Branco}} (1966) *{{lang|pt|Os Reinegros}} (1972)
===Theatre=== *{{lang|pt|Maria Emília}} (1945) *{{lang|pt|Forja}} (1948) *{{lang|pt|O Destino Morreu de Repente}} (1967) *{{lang|pt|Fronteira Fechada}} (1972)
===Short stories=== *{{lang|pt|Nasci com Passaporte de Turista}} (1940) *{{lang|pt|Espólio}} (1943) *{{lang|pt|Comboio das Seis}} (1946) *{{lang|pt|Noite Esquecida}} (1959) *{{lang|pt|Constantino Guardador de Vacas e de Sonhos}} (1962) *{{lang|pt|Histórias Afluentes}} (1963) *{{lang|pt|Três Contos de Dentes}} (1968)
===Children's literature=== *{{lang|pt|A Vida Mágica da Sementinha}} (1956) *{{lang|pt|A Flor Vai Ver o Mar}} (1968) *{{lang|pt|A Flor Vai Pescar Num Bote}} (1968) *{{lang|pt|Uma Flor Chamada Maria}} (1969) *{{lang|pt|Maria Flor Abre o Livro das Surpresas}} (1970)
===Essays=== *{{lang|pt|Glória - Uma Aldeia do Ribatejo}} (1938) *{{lang|pt|A França - Da Resistência à Renascença}} (1949) *{{lang|pt|Cancioneiro do Ribatejo}} (1950) *{{lang|pt|Ribatejo (Em Portugal Maravilhoso)}} (1952) *{{lang|pt|Romanceiro Geral do Povo Português}} (1959)
===Screenplays=== *{{lang|pt|Nazaré}} (1952) *{{lang|pt|Avieiros}} (1975)
===Conferences=== *{{lang|pt|Le Roman du Tage}} (Edited by Union Française Universitaire - Paris) (1946)
==Sources== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.alvesredol.com Alves Redol homepage] (Portuguese) *[http://www.infopedia.pt/$alves-redol Redol @ Infopédia] (Portuguese) *[http://issuu.com/cmvfx/docs/alves_redol?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true Programme for the Alves Redol centenary] (in Portuguese, but amply illustrated) *{{IMDb name|0715111}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redol, Alves}} Category:1911 births Category:1969 deaths Category:People from Vila Franca de Xira Category:Portuguese male writers Category:Portuguese Communist Party politicians Category:Portuguese anti-fascists Category:20th-century Portuguese writers