Alberto Pimentel
1849–1925
Biography
Alberto Augusto de Almeida Pimentel (1849–1925) was a prolific writer from Porto, in northern Portugal. He was born in the Cedofeita parish of that city and, for financial reasons, could not go on to university. He began his career at the Jornal do Porto, first as a translator and proofreader, and then wrote across many forms: novels, verse, plays, biographies, political writing and studies of popular tradition. Much of that output is little read today.
His historical novels look back on the Portuguese past with a nostalgic eye, and in their prefaces he claimed they were faithful to the customs and dates of their periods. His first novel, O Testamento de Sangue, began life as a serial that filled a gap when another serial was delayed. He later moved to Lisbon, was twice elected to parliament, and became a close friend and admirer of the novelist Camilo Castelo Branco. His Romance do Romancista (1890) made him Camilo's first biographer, and that book is still one of the main references for the study of Camilo.
Two of his books are on this site. A Guerrilha de Frei Simão is a historical romance of the Peninsular War, in which the Vasconcelos family of Cesár, an old house in northern Portugal, is caught between the French invasion and a friar who raises a band of guerrillas; the author weaves real events into the fiction. O Anel Misterioso is the other title here. Today he is remembered mainly through his work on Camilo rather than through these novels.
This biography was written by a language model. The sources below are where to check it; treat details with care.
Books
A Guerrilha de Frei Simão
by Alberto Pimentel
A historical romance of the Peninsular War set in the family of the Vasconcelos of Cesár, a good old house of northern Portugal, whose sons and daughters are caught between the French invasion and a friar who raises a band of guerrillas. Pimentel mixes real events with fiction.
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.O Anel Misterioso
by Alberto Pimentel
A historical novel of the Peninsular War that opens in Porto with a popular type of the town, a man nicknamed the Desgraça, known to the street boys for his run of misfortunes. A mysterious ring and a manuscript lead through the years of French occupation.
Summary written by Claude Sonnet 5.5.