About the man:
"Manuel Joaquim Pinheiro Chagas (Lisbon, November 13 of 1842 - Lisbon, April 8 of 1895) was a prolific writer, journalist and politician Portuguese. Stood out as a novelist, playwright and historian, having written many historical novels and several plays, some of which remained on the scene for over a century. He was director of several journals in Lisbon. He served as deputy and peer of the Kingdom and was Minister of Marine and Tropical drives in the decisive phase of the European powers around the division of Africa. He was one of the founders of the Geographical Society of Lisbon.
He was a brilliant student, starting early to show great interest in writing. His first published work was Angel of Home (1863), a collection of poems, followed by the Youth Poem (1865), another poetic collection, now prefaced by António Feliciano de Castilho .
Castilho was the preface to that work of youthful poetry, aptly titled poem of Youth, which led to the outbreak of Question Coimbra, where the controversial group Pinheiro Chagas, Julio de Castilho, Brito Aranha, Camilo Castelo Branco and Ramalho Ortigão faced Teofilo Braga and Antero de Quental, an epiphenomenon of literary tension between conservatism and reformism that crossed the Portuguese society of the time.
From then he went on to work closely in the press and maintain a literary activity that linked an early no less intense political activity. Began to publish works of fiction, one of the initiators of the romance of adventure in Portugal.
Although his works oscillate between a strict style and atmosphere of employment, the popularity of Pinheiro Chagas was great, being long regarded as one of the most popular Portuguese writers. The proof of this is that the literary plebiscite held in 1884 by the newspaper The Impartial Coimbra, who has done a poll on who would be the three most notable Portuguese writers this season, won its readers the following classification: 1. Camilo Castelo Branco 2. Manuel Pinheiro Chagas, and 3. José Maria Latino Coelho."
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About the statue:
"Monument erected by subscription raised by the newspaper "Mala of Europe", in Portugal and Brazil, in honor of a great novelist, historian, playwright and politician, Manuel Pinheiro Chagas (1842-1895).
In the first step of the base is placed a female figure, full-body bronze, with robes of the early twentieth century, and with both feet on a carpet stretched over the stair. This figure is the main character in a theatrical blockbuster "The Morgadinha of Valflores.
At the top of the plinth, is based on the bust in bronze, Pinheiro Chagas. This falls under a garland of flowers.
The set is approximately 3m in size. Having been operated upon between December 2006 and January 2007, with work on preventive conservation, restoration and replacement of the bust."
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