Herculano, Alexandre

(1810-1877)

   One of Portugal's greatest historians and one of its giants in 19th-century writing and literature. Born in Lisbon to a middle-class family, Herculano studied commerce and diplomacy. At age 21, he enlisted in the liberal armed forces of King Pedro IV but was forced to flee to exile in Great Britain and then France. Later, he was part of the victorious liberal expeditionary force that landed near Oporto. He began his serious studies in Oporto, but soon relocated to Lisbon, where he worked as a journalist. In 1839, he was named to the post of director of the Royal Library at Ajudá Palace and at Necessidades Palace, and thus began to prepare to write his classic work, História de Portugal, a major study that when completed took the history of the country only up to the end of the 13th century. The first volume of this work, with which his fame as a historian is most closely associated, was published in 1846, but Herculano was a versatile writer who wrote novels, essays, and poetry as well as history.

   In addition to being a man of words, he was a man of action who was active in exchanges with other literati and who did government service. Herculano, for example, was on the commission that revised the civil code of Portugal. His histori cal writings influenced future generations of writers because of his literary style, because he broke through the legend and myth that had surrounded ancient and medieval Portuguese history, and above all because of his objective, scientific approach to research and conclusions. Dissatisfied with politics and public life, Herculano retired to a farm in the country (at Vale de Lobos) in 1859 and worked as a farmer until 1866.