Casais Monteiro was born on 4 July 1908 in
Porto. He graduated in History and Philosophy at
University of Porto (Faculty of Arts), where he was colleague of
Agostinho da Silva and
Delfim Santos, in 1933. In Porto he started as a high school teacher at
Liceu Rodrigues de Freitas, until he was prevented from teaching by the government dictatorship in 1937. He would eventually go into exile in Brazil in 1954 for the same reasons. After the removal of
Miguel Torga,
Branquinho da Fonseca and
Edmundo de Bettencourt, in 1930, Adolfo Casais Monteiro was director of the
Coimbra's literary journal
Presença (journal), with
José Régio and
João Gaspar Simões. This journal published the political views of Casais Monteiro until it ceased publication in 1940. He was arrested several times due to his political opinions adverse to the
Estado Novo regime and directed anonymously the weekly
Mundo Literário in 1936 e 1937. Prevented from teaching, Casais Monteiro goes to
Lisbon, living as literary author, translator and editor. As
Agostinho da Silva or
Jorge de Sena, he would eventually leave to Brazil, due to his opposition to Estado Novo, which he could not accept. He also directed the journal
Princípio (1930) and collaborated with the journals
Sudoeste (1935) and
Variante (1942–1943). Having participated in the celebrations of the 4th centenary of the city of
São Paulo in 1954, Adolfo Casais Monteiro fixed residence in Brazil, teaching since then
Portuguese Literature in several Brazilian universities, namely at
Bahia State University in
Salvador, till fixed in 1962 at
São Paulo State University (UNESP), Campus de Araraquara-SP. He wrote by then several essays and wrote as literary critic for several Brazilian newspapers, having contributed to the study of
Fernando Pessoa and the
Movimento da Presença. He died on 23 July 1972 in São Paulo. Among his translation works is
Germania, de
Tacitus, published in 1941. His only novel,
Adolescentes (Teenagers), was published in 1945. His poetic work, which began in 1929 with "Confusão", was influenced by the first Portuguese modernism, approaching stylistically the aestheticism of
André Gide. Their criticisms of concreteness were based on the idea that this aesthetic movement promoted impersonality, starting from the "'purest abstractions
to build a new language to the service of nothing, a pure language, an invention of objects – in short: a beautiful toy". "While some authors describe it as independent of
Surrealism others emphasize the influence that this had on the author's current aesthetic, as can be seen in his essays on authors such as
Jules Supervielle,
Henri Michaux and
Antonin Artaud (designating the latter as
unsustainable presence ). Much of his poetry is dedicated to the specific historical period in which he lived, as in the poem "Europa" (1945), which was read by his friend and colleague
António Pedro in
Literary World at the microphones of London
BBC. Married Mary Alice Pereira Gomes, also a writer and sister of
Soeiro Pereira Gomes, with whom he had a son. == Works ==