João Cabral de Melo Neto life and work

João Cabral de Melo Neto
Source: ABL.

Short biography

João Cabral de Melo Neto (born in 1920 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil - died in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro) was a poet and diplomat.

His family owned a sugar monoculture plantation, and he spent his childhood on the farm. At the age of ten, his family returned to Recife, where João attended secondary school. When he was a teenager, he played for local football teams. In 1940, the family moved again, this time to Rio de Janeiro.

João did not apply to university. Instead, he found a placement as a civil servant in Rio. His first book was published in 1942. Three years later, he enrolled in the selection process of Itamarati, the Brazilian diplomatic service.

From 1946 until the 1990s, João worked in different countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Paraguay, Senegal, Portugal, and Spain. From 1952 to 1955, he was suspended from his diplomatic activities, accused of being part of a communist cell.

His last international post was Consul General in the city of Porto, Portugal. In 1987 he returned to Rio de Janeiro, retiring in 1990. João was elected a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1968.

Throughout his life, he suffered from poor health conditions. João had chronic headaches and attempted several therapeutic treatments and almost 30 surgeries. He also faced melancholy and depression.

In the last decade of his life, a progressive blindness, together with depression, prevented him from reading and writing.

List of poetry books

Pedra do sono (1942), Os três mal-amados (1943), O engenheiro (1945), Psicologia da composição com a Fábula de Anfion e Antiode (1947), O cão sem plumas (1950), Poemas reunidos (1954), O Rio ou Relação da viagem que faz o Capibaribe de sua nascente à Cidade do Recife (1954), Pregão turístico (1955), Duas águas (1956), Aniki Bobó (1958), Quaderna (1960), Dois parlamentos (1961), Terceira feira (1961), Poemas escolhidos (1963), Antologia poética (1965), Morte e vida Severina (1965), Morte e vida Severina e outros poemas em voz alta (1966), A educação pela pedra (1966), Funeral de um lavrador (1967), Poesias completas 1940-1965 (1968), Museu de tudo (1975), A escola das facas (1980), Poesia crítica - antologia (1982), Auto do frade (1983), Agrestes (1985), Poesia completa (1986), Crime na Calle Relator (1987), Museu de tudo e depois (1988), Sevilha andando (1989), Primeiros poemas (1990), J.C.M.N. - os melhores poemas (1994), Entre o sertão e Sevilha (1997), Serial e antes (1997), A educação pela pedra e depois (1997).

Original from: Academia Brasileira de Letras and Jornal da USP
Translated and edited by: crroma