Almeida Garrett

Almeida Garrett
A lithograph of Garrett, by Pedro Augusto Guglielmi
Born	João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett (1799-02-04)4 February 1799 Porto, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	9 December 1854(1854-12-09) (aged 55) Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Occupation	Poet, playwright, novelist, politician, journalist
Nationality	Portuguese
Literary movement	Romanticism
Notable works	Viagens na Minha Terra, Camões, Frei Luís de Sousa
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João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, Viscount of Almeida Garrett (4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was a Portuguese poet, playwright, novelist and politician. He is considered to be the introducer of the Romantic movement in Portugal. He is regarded as one of history's greatest Romanticists and a true revolutionary and humanist.

Garrett was born João Leitão da Silva in Porto, the son of António Bernardo da Silva Garrett (1740–1834), a fidalgo of the Royal Household and knight of the Order of Christ whose mother was the daughter of an Irish father born in exile in France and an Italian mother born in Spain, and his wife (m. 1796) Ana Augusta de Almeida Leitão (b. Porto, c. 1770). At an early age, around 4 or 5 years old, Garrett changed his name to João Baptista da Silva Leitão, adding a name from his godfather and altering the order of his surnames.

In 1809, his family fled the second French invasion carried out by Soult's troops, seeking refuge in Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Azores. While in the Azores, he was taught by his uncle, Dom Frei Alexandre da Sagrada Família (Faial, Horta, 22 May 1737 – Terceira, Angra do Heroísmo, 22 April 1818), also a freemason, then the 25th Bishop of Angra (1816–1818) and former Bishop of Malacca and Timor; his two other uncles were Manuel Inácio da Silva Garrett, Archdeacon of Angra, and Inácio da Silva Garrett, also a clergyman of Angra. In childhood, his mulatto Brazilian nanny Rosa de Lima taught him some traditional stories that later influenced his work.