A PORTUGUESE POET’S EARLY LIFE IN DURBAN

Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra PESSOA was born on June 13, 1888, in Lisbon, Portugal. He was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, and translator. He is regarded as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. He passed away on November 30, 1935, in Lisbon.

On July 13, 1893 in Lisbon, tuberculosis claimed the life of his father, Joaquim de Seabra PESSOA. He was a civil servant in the Ministry of Justice. He was also a music critic for the daily Diário de Notícias.

In December 1895, Maria Madalena Pinheiro NOGUEIRA, Fernando’s widowed mother, was married by proxy to João Miguel dos Santos ROSA. All of Fernando’s step-siblings were born in Durban. On January 6, 1896, Maria and Fernando left Lisbon for Durban, Natal. João Miguel, a military officer, had been appointed Portuguese Consul there in June 1895. They lived in West Street in Durban.

In August 1901, the family visited Portugal for a year. They also spent time in the Azores. They stayed at the home of his mother’s sister, Anica (Ana Louisa Nogueira DE FREITAS). In 1920, Fernando was employed by Mário Nogueira DE FREITAS, Anica’s son, at his company (Felix, Valladas & Freitas Lda.), where it is said that he met Ofelia QUEIROZ, a 19-year-old secretary, wand fell in love. The relationship ended in November 1920; however, correspondence was resumed in September 1929 until January 1930, when it ended again. While in the Azores, a handwritten newspaper, A Palavra/A Palrador, was compiled by Fernando and Mário. Fernando kept it going upon his return to Durban. The family left the Azores for Lisbon before they sailed back to Durban in September 1902.

Fernando attended St Joseph Convent School in Durban, a Catholic school run by Irish and French nuns. In April 1899, he transitioned to Durban High School. There, he became fluent in English. He also developed an appreciation for English literature. In November 1903, he won the Queen Victoria Prize for English essays. He beat 898 candidates in the entrance examination to the University of Good Hope. The prize was either money or a collection of classic English literature. Fernando chose the books. While preparing to enter university, he also attended evening classes at Durban Commercial School. At the age of sixteen, the Natal Mercury newspaper published his poem “Hillier did first usurp the realms of rhyme.” This was under the name of Charles Robert Anon in the 06 July 1904 edition. He used many pen names during his writing career.

Clifford Edward GEERDTS (born in Pietermaritzburg, died 1968, married to Doris Courtenay EDMONDS) attended school with Fernando in 1904. He recalled Fernando as “pale and thin.” He was regarded as a brilliant, clever boy. Although younger than his schoolfellows of the same class, he appeared to have no difficulty in keeping up with them. He often surpassed them in work. For one of his age, he thought much and deeply…. He avoided participating in athletic sports of any kind, and I think his spare time was spent on reading.

Among the poems written while he was still a schoolboy in Durban is the next sonnet. It denounces Joseph CHAMBERLAIN for being the cause of the Anglo-Boer War.

Joseph Chamberlain
Their blood on thy head, whom the Afric waste
Saw struggling, puppets with unwilful hand,
Brother and brother: their bought souls shall brand
Thine own with horrors. Be thy name erased

From the full mouths of men: nor be there traced
To thee one glory of thy parent land:
But ‘fore us, as ‘fore God, e’er do thou stand
In that thy deed forevermore disgraced.

Where lie the sons and husbands, where those dear
That thy curst craft hath lost? Their drops of blood
One by one fallen, and many a cadenced tear,

With triple justice weighted trebly dread,
Shall each, rolled onward in a burning flood,
Crush thy dark soul. Their blood be on thy head!

Fernando completed the Intermediate Bachelor of Arts degree at Cape Town University in 1905. In August 1905 he left for Lisbon on board the Herzog, leaving Durban to study diplomacy in Lisbon. His family remained in South Africa. He lived with his grandmother Dionísia and two aunts at 17 Rua da Bela Vista. After a period of illness and two years of poor results, a student strike put an end to his studies. He became a self-taught student, spending a lot of time at the library. In October 1906, his family arrived from South Africa and stayed at 100 Calçada da Estrela. They returned to South Africa in May 1907, and Fernando returned to his grandmother’s house. In August 1907 he started working at R.G. Dun & Company, an American mercantile information agency (now Dun & Bradstreet). His grandmother died in September 1907. She left him a small inheritance. He spent this inheritance on setting up his own publishing house, Empreza Ibis. The venture was not a success and closed down in 1910. In 1910, his stepfather was transferred from Durban to Pretoria, where he died on October 5, 1919.

His step-uncle Henrique dos Santos ROSA, a retired general and poet, introduced him to Portuguese poetry. He penned a critical essay in 1912, which Aguia, the cultural journal, published. In 1915, a group of artists and poets, among them Fernando, initiated the creation of the literary magazine Orpheu. This magazine introduced modernist literature to Portugal. Only two issues were published (Jan-Feb-Mar 1915 and Apr-May-Jun 1915) due to funding difficulties. The third issue was lost but was finally found and published in 1984. In 1912-1914, he lived with his aunt and cousins. During this time, he got interested in spiritualist sessions. These sessions were carried out at home. He translated a series of esoteric books in late 1915, which fully awakened his interest in spiritualism. By March 1916 he experienced what he considered medium experiences. In June, he wrote his aunt. She was then living in Switzerland with her daughter and son-in-law. He wrote about his “mystery case.” He also developed a strong interest in astrology, becoming a competent astrologist. He created more than 1,500 astrological charts of well-known people. These people included Shakespeare, Byron, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Napoleon, Mussolini, and the Kings Sebastian and Carlos of Portugal. Fernando also founded the literary review Athena (1924–25). In 1925 he wrote a guide book to Lisbon, in English, which was only published in 1992.

From 1905 to 1920, he lived at 15 different places around Lisbon. Sometimes he stayed with relatives. Other times, he stayed in rented rooms. From 1907 until his death, he worked at 21 businesses in Lisbon. He sometimes worked in two or three of them at the same time. He was a freelance translator of English and French correspondence. He frequented Martinho da Arcada, a coffee house in Comercio Square. There he met friends in the 1920s. Another favourite coffee house was A Brasileira in the Lisbon district of Chiado. Today, there is a statue of him there. It is quite close to his birthplace at 4 Largo de São Carlos, in front of the Opera House. His last home was from 1920 until his death in 1935. It is now the Fernando Pessoa Museum at 16 Rua Coelho da Rocha. He rented an apartment on the first floor when his mother and step-siblings returned from South Africa in March 1920. Here he lived with his mother, his step-sister and two stepbrothers. After his mother’s death in 1925, his stepsister, her husband and their two children sometimes lived there too. His stepbrothers immigrated to England in 1920.

On 29 November 1935, Fernando was admitted to the Sao Luis dos Franceses Hospital. He died the following day of cirrhosis. He left much unpublished and unfinished work in a large trunk. This trunk is now housed in the Portuguese National Library. The contents of the trunk included over 25,000 manuscript sheets of poetry, prose, plays, philosophy, and criticism. There were also translations, linguistic theory, political writings, horoscopes, and assorted other texts. These were variously typed, handwritten, or illegibly scrawled in Portuguese, English, and French. He wrote in notebooks and on loose sheets. He also wrote on the back of letters and advertisements. He used stationery from the businesses he worked for and from the cafés he frequented. He wrote on envelopes and paper scraps.

In 1988, his remains were moved to the Hieronymites Monastery in Lisbon. Vasco DA GAMA and Luís DE CAMÕES are also buried there. His portrait was used on the 100-escudo banknote. In 1987, a commemorative statue was erected at the corner of Pine and Gardiner Streets in Durban. It was funded by the Antonio de Almeida Foundation. The South African artist, Willem BOSHOFF, is an admirer of Fernando’s work. He created a black granite art piece entitled Book of the Disquiet. The granite features inscriptions taken from Fernando’s The Book of Disquiet, sandblasted onto it. The Book of Disquiet was published 50 years after his death and is one of his greatest works.

This chronology was published in Fernando Pessoa: Escritos Autobiográficos, Automáticos e de Reflexão Pessoal (Assírio & Alvim, 2003):

1813
13 February: Joaquim António de Araújo PESSOA, Fernando Pessoa’s paternal grandfather, is born in Tavira, the Algarve. He supports the liberal faction during the 1828-1834 civil war. He flees to Oporto and enlists in the infantry in 1833. He fights with Brio on the victorius side and moves to Lisbon, where he marries. He dies as a much-decorated general.

1823
17 June: Dionísia Rosa Estrela DE SEABRA, Fernando’s maternal grandmother, is born in Lisbon.

1825
18 April: Manuel Gualdino DA CUNHA, future husband of Pessoa’s great-aunt Maria Xavier PINHEIRO, is born in Lisbon. He is a navy officer and a fervent supporter of the Progressives, one of the two major political parties. He will hold high-level posts in the administration of the national rail service.

1828
10 August: Rita Emília Xavier PINHEIRO is the oldest of Fernando’s four maternal great-aunts. She is born in Velas, on the Azorean island of São Jorge. Never marries.

1830
11 August: Maria Xavier PINHEIRO, the great-aunt closest to Fernando, is born in Calheta. This is on the island of São Jorge. She marries Manuel Gualdino DA CUNHA somewhat late, and they have no children.

1832
29 December: Fernando’s maternal grandfather, Luís António NOGUEIRA, is born in Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island. He earns a law degree at the University of Coimbra. He holds various government posts. Eventually, he becomes Director in Chief of the Civil and Political Administration and a State Counsellor.

1836
14 June: Fernando’s maternal grandmother, Madalena Xavier PINHEIRO, is born in Velas, on the island of São Jorge.

1840
24 April: António Maria SILVANO, cousin and future husband of Fernando’s great-aunt Carolina, is born on Terceira Island. Will retire as a general in the army, in 1897.

1843
22 April: Fernando’s great-aunt Carolina Xavier PINHEIRO is born in Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island. She marries António Maria SILVANO in 1868. They have four children: Carolina Adelaide Pinheiro Silvano, António Pinheiro Silvano, Joaquim Silvano, and Júlio Maria Silvano.

1844
13 February: Marriage of paternal grandparents.

1845
Lisbela da Cruz PESSOA, first cousin of Fernando’s father, is born in Tavira. She will remain a widow. She has no children after the early death of her husband. Her husband was an army officer named Romão Aurélio da Cruz MACHADO (1849-1873).
9 October: Fernando’s great-aunt Adelaide Xavier PINHEIRO is born in Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island. She marries Joaquim de Andrade NEVES, a doctor from Madeira. They have three children: Jaime de Andrade Neves, Laurinda Pinheiro Neves, and Joaquim de Andrade Neves.

1850
28 May: Fernando’s father, Joaquim de Seabra PESSOA, is born in Lisbon. He is a civil servant for the Ministry of Justice. He works evenings for the Diário de Notícias. He is the paper’s music critic from 1876 to 1892.
1 December: Birth of Henrique dos Santos ROSA, an older brother of Fernando’s stepfather. A brigadier-general upon retiring from the army in 1903, he is also a poet with a wide-ranging culture. He will exert considerable literary influence on Fernando. He will also have a political impact. Fernando becomes his close friend after returning to Lisbon in 1905.

1857
29 September: Fernando’s stepfather, João Miguel do Santos ROSA, is born in Lisbon. Enlists in the navy in 1871.

1859
24 April: Marriage of maternal grandparents.

1860
19 March: Birth of Ana Luísa Pinheiro NOGUEIRA, Fernando’s Aunt Anica, his mother’s only sister. In 1889 she marries João Nogueira DE FREITAS (1865-1904), an agricultural engineer.

1861
30 December: Fernando’s mother, Maria Madalena Pinheiro NOGUEIRA, is born in Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira Island).

1865
April: His mother comes to the mainland. Her father, Luís António NOGUEIRA, is named Secretary-General of the Oporto branch of the civil government. Raised between Oporto and Lisbon, she will not live again in the Azores.

1866
22 November: Birth of Jaime Pinheiro de Andrade NEVES, son of Fernando’s great-aunt Adelaide and Joaquim de Andrade NEVES. He comes as a child to Lisbon. He will have a long career as a physician. He graduates first from the School of Medicine in Paris. Dies in Lisbon in 1955.

1871
28 June: Birth of António Pinheiro SILVANO, son of Fernando’s great-aunt Carolina and António Maria SILVANO. Will pursue a career in the navy. Dies in Lisbon in 1936.

1884
28 June: Death of maternal grandfather.

1885
6 August: Death of paternal grandfather.

1887
5 September: Fernando’s parents marry in Lisbon.

1888
13 June: Fernando António Nogueira PESSOA is born at the Largo de São Carlos number 4. This was on the 4th floor. It happened on a Wednesday at 3:20 p.m.

1891
24 February: Mário Nogueira DE FREITAS, Fernando’s first cousin, is born to Aunt Anica on Terceira Island.

1893
21 January: Fernando’s brother, Jorge, is born.
2 April: Birth of Maria, Aunt Anica’s daughter and Fernando’s first cousin.
10 July: Aunt Anica’s family (including Fernando’s grandmother Madalena) returns to Terceira after living for several years on the mainland.
13 July: His father dies from tuberculosis.
15 November: The surviving family moves to the Rua de São Marçal, 104, third floor. Fernando, his mother, brother, Grandma Dionísia, and two housekeepers are part of this move.

1894
2 January: His brother Jorge dies. That same month his mother meets her second husband, João Miguel dos Santos ROSA.
27 December: Fernando’s maternal grandmother, Madalena Xavier PINHEIRO, comes from the Azores to Lisbon, to keep her widowed daughter company.

1895
30 December: His mother is married by proxy. The groom is Commander João Miguel ROSA, Portugal’s consul in Durban, South Africa since October. The groom is represented by his brother, Henrique ROSA.

1896
5 January: Fernando’s maternal grandmother returns for good to Terceira.
20 January: Embarks with his mother for Madeira, where on the 31st they board the Hawarden Castle, bound for Durban. They are accompanied by Manuel Gualdino DA CUNHA, Fernando’s uncle.
27 November: His mother gives birth to Henriqueta Madalena, known as Teca, her first child by João Miguel ROSA.

1898
25 January: Death of his uncle Manuel Gualdino DA CUNHA, in Pedrouços.
5 October: Death of his maternal grandmother, in Angra do Heroísmo.
22 October: Birth of Madalena Henriqueta, the second daughter of Maria Madalena NOGUEIRA and João Miguel ROSA.

1900
11 January: His mother gives birth to Luís Miguel (nicknamed Lhi), her third child by João Miguel ROSA.
14 June: Ofélia QUEIROZ, Fernando’s only sweetheart, is born in Lisbon.

1901
25 June: His half-sister Madalena Henriqueta dies.
1 August: He sails with his family to Portugal. The ship calls at Lourenço Marques, Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salaam, Port Said, and Naples.
13 September: The family arrives in Lisbon. They stay in a rented flat on the Rua de Pedrouços, 45, ground floor. This location is near the Quinta do Duque do Cadaval. Fernando’s great-aunts, Maria and Rita, live nearby, along with his Grandma Dionísia.
October(?): Travels with his family to the Algarve, to visit Lisbela Pessoa MACHADO (cousin of his deceased father) and other paternal relatives.

1902
2 May: Travels with his family to Terceira Island, in the Azores. They stay nine days (7-16 May) in the house of his Aunt Anica, Uncle João and cousins Mário and Maria. Fernando’s family returns to the mainland earlier than planned, due to an outbreak of spinal meningitis.
20 May: Back in Lisbon, the family lives in a flat. It is located on the Avenue Dom Carlos I, 109, 3rd floor left.
26 June: His mother and step-father sail for Durban with the other children. Fernando remains in Lisbon.
19 September: Departs for Durban on the Herzog, which sails around the Cape.

1903
17 January: His mother gives birth to João Maria, her fourth child by João Miguel ROSA.

1904
16 August: His mother gives birth to Maria Clara, her fifth child by João Miguel ROSA.

1905
20 August: Departs for Lisbon on the Herzog, which sails on the western coast of Africa.
5 September: His Aunt Anica, widowed in 1904, moves to Lisbon with her children.
14 September: Fernando reaches Lisbon. He stays for a few days at the house of his Aunt Maria in Pedrouços. His Aunt Rita and Grandma Dionísia also live there. Then he moves in with his Aunt Anica on the Rua de São Bento 98, 2nd floor left. He will live there for one year.

1906
Early October: Goes to live with his family in Lisbon. They are on another long leave from Durban. They stay at the Calçada da Estrela 100, 1st floor.
11 December: Death of his step-sister Maria Clara, in Lisbon.

1907
May: His family returns to Durban. He moves in with his great-aunts, Rita and Maria, and his Grandma Dionísia. They live at Rua da Bela Vista à Lapa 17, 1st floor.
6 September: Dionísia de Seabra PESSOA dies. Fernando is her only heir.

1911
June: Moves in with his Aunt Anica, on the Rua Passos Manuel, 24, 3rd floor left.
12 September: His family moves from Durban to Pretoria, where his stepfather has been named consul general of Portugal.
21 September: His great-aunt Maria dies at the home of Aunt Anica, Rua Passos Manuel.

1913
14 October: António Maria SILVANO, husband of his great-aunt Carolina, dies in Lisbon.

1914
April: Moves, with Aunt Anica and her daughter, to the Rua Pascoal de Melo, 119, 3rd floor right.
November: Aunt Anica moves to Switzerland with her daughter Maria and son-in-law Raul Soares DA COSTA, a naval engineer. Later they will live in Italy, returning to Lisbon in 1924.

1915
November: His mother, still in South Africa, suffers a stroke affecting her left side.

1916
14 February: His great-aunt Rita dies in the home of another great-aunt, Carolina, in Lisbon.

1919
14 June: His great-aunt Adelaide dies, in Lisbon.
7 October: His stepfather dies in Pretoria.
November: Meets Ofélia QUEIROZ at the firm Félix, Valladas & Freitas

1920
29 March: He moves to the Rua Coelho da Rocha 16, 1st floor right. He will live there for the rest of his life.
30 March: His mother and the children from her second marriage arrive at Lisbon. They sailed from South Africa on 20 February. They stay for a few weeks with her cousin António Pinheiro SILVANO, on the Av. Casal Ribeiro 35. In late April they move to Rua Coelho da Rocha, after Fernando has made the necessary preparations (connecting the utilities, acquiring furniture, etc.).
May: His two step-brothers leave for England, where they will study at the University of London. They will marry British women but have no children. Luís dies in 1975, João in 1977.
29 November: Fernando breaks off with Ofélia QUEIROZ through a letter.

1923
21 July: Fernando’s sister marries Francisco Caetano DIAS, who works for the administrative services of the armed forces. They go to live at the Quinta dos Marechais, in Benfica, and take Fernando’s semi-invalid mother with them. His ailing step-uncle Henrique ROSA also goes to live with them. Fernando will live on his own for two years.

1925
8 February: Henrique ROSA, brother of Fernando’s stepfather, dies at the Quinta dos Marechais, in Benfica.
17 March: His mother dies at the Quinta dos Marechais.
16 November: Birth of his niece, Manuela Nogueira Rosa DIAS.

1926
30 April: His great-aunt Carolina dies in Lisbon.

1927
November or December: His sister and her family move to Évora, where they will live for three years.

1930
11 January: This is the date of his last letter to Ofélia QUEIROZ. She will continue to write him for over a year. They will still talk on the telephone and meet on occasion. Ofélia, who will marry some years later, dies in 1991.
November(?): His sister and her family return from Évora to Lisbon.

1931
1 January: Birth of Luís Miguel Rosa DIAS, Fernando’s nephew, in Lisbon.

1932
Fernando’s sister and brother-in-law build a house in São João do Estoril. They and their children will live there most of the time. When in Lisbon, they will continue to stay with Fernando at Rua Coelho da Rocha. His sister, Henriqueta Madalena Rosa DIAS, dies in 1992; her husband, Francisco Caetano DIAS, in 1969.
23 March: Death of his cousin Mário Nogueira DE FREITAS.

1935
29 November: He is beset by fever and strong abdominal pains. He is admitted into the French hospital of Lisbon. There, he writes his last words in English: “I know not what tomorrow will bring.”
30 November: Dies at around 8 p.m., attended by Jaime de Andrade NEVES, his cousin and physician.
2 December: Buried in Lisbon at the cemetery of Prazeres.

Joaquim de Seabra PESSOA and Maria Madalena Pinheiro NOGUEIRA’s children:
1) Jorge Nogueira PESSOA born January 1893 in Lisbon, died 02 January 1894 in Lisbon
2) Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra PESSOA born 13 June 1888 in Lisbon died 30 November 1935 in Lisbon

Maria and João Miguel dos Santos ROSA’s children:
1) Henriqueta Madalena Nogueira dos Santos ROSA (aka Teca, born 07 November 1897 in Durban, married Captain Francisco Caetano DIAS)
2) Madalena Henriqueta Nogueira dos Santos ROSA (born 22 October 1898 in Durban, died 25 June 1901)
3) Luis Miguel Nogueira dos Santos ROSA (born 11 January 1900 in Durban)
4) João Maria Nogueira dos Santos ROSA (born 17 January 1903 in Durban)
5) Maria Clara Nogueira ROSA (born 16 August 1904 in Durban, died 11 December 1906)