Between “Tchó” and Cego do Maio, on the back of the Ala-Arriba t-shirt, there is a name studied in every school in Portugal: Eça de Queirós. What many people don’t know is that the great Portuguese novelist is, according to most biographers, a son of Póvoa de Varzim.
Born in Póvoa
José Maria Eça de Queirós was born in November 1845, and most sources give the date as the 25th. He was the son of the magistrate José Maria Teixeira de Queirós, born in Rio de Janeiro, and of Carolina Augusta Pereira de Eça, who were not yet married. According to several biographies, he was born in a house on Praça do Almada, in the centre of the city.
The controversy: Póvoa or Vila do Conde?
The exact place of his birth is still debated today. He was baptised on 1 December 1845 in the Igreja Matriz of Vila do Conde, with the register stating “unknown mother”, and he spent his first years in that town, in the house of his godmother, Ana Joaquina Leal Barros. Most biographers point to Póvoa, and one of the most-used arguments is a phrase by the writer himself, who described himself as a “poor man from Póvoa de Varzim” (“pobre homem da Póvoa de Varzim”). But there is no absolute certainty, and both towns have reasons to claim him.
A childhood far from Póvoa
Eça didn’t grow up in Póvoa. After his first years in Vila do Conde, he went to live in Aveiro, in the house of his paternal grandparents. He studied at the Colégio da Lapa in Porto, graduated in Law at Coimbra and built a career as a writer and diplomat, until his death in Neuilly, France, on 16 August 1900.
Where to find Eça in Póvoa
- Praça do Almada: the square of the house where he is said to have been born, and where the writer’s statue stands, erected in 1952. It is also the square of the Pelourinho (the town’s pillory monument) and the Town Hall, and the one the rusgas parade through on Saint Peter’s night.
- Largo do Café Chinês (today Largo David Alves): linked to Póvoa’s golden age as a beach resort in the 19th century. Among the distinguished figures associated with this square is Eça’s father. To understand what Póvoa was like in that era, read Avenida dos Banhos, the heartbeat of Póvoa de Varzim.
- Escola Secundária Eça de Queirós: the city’s secondary school is named after the writer.
- Varzim Sport Club: the club’s first trophy, in 1920, was the Taça Eça de Queiroz. For the story of the “Alvinegro”, see the Poveiro dictionary.
- Correntes d’Escritas: the city’s international literary festival keeps that connection to books alive.
Two poveiros of the 19th century
Cego do Maio was born in 1817 and Eça in 1845. One is the poveiro of the sea, the other the poveiro of words. Both are on the t-shirt, which is why it works as a portrait of Póvoa: read the story of Cego do Maio.
Why he’s on the Ala-Arriba t-shirt
080AYA’s Ala-Arriba collection is about belonging, and belonging also belongs to those who write. Eça is there because Póvoa claims him as its own, with pride and without fear of the controversy, the way people feel when a great name in culture is also “from here”. If you’re from Póvoa, you recognise him straight away. If you’re not, you learn that the greatest Portuguese realist novelist has here one of his possible homelands.