José Saramago

Poet

Birthday November 16, 1922

Birth Sign Scorpio

Birthplace Azinhaga, Portugal

DEATH DATE Jun 18, 2010 (87)

#187523 Most Popular

About

Portuguese author and poet who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. His best-known works include The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (1991) and Blindness (1995).

Before Fame

He attended technical school and briefly worked as a car mechanic before becoming an assistant editor for the Portuguese newspaper, Diario de Noticias. 

Trivia

After publishing his first novel, Land of Sin (1947), he wasn't able to publish his next book until 30 years later. His writing style often features long sentences, at times more than a page long and with no pauses for dialogue. 

Family Life

He was born to a peasant family in Azinhaga, Portugal. He and his wife, Pilar del Rio, had a daughter.

Associated With

His novel Blindness was adapted into a 2008 film starring Julianne MooreMark Ruffalo and Alice Braga.