José dos Santos Cravina

Poet, novelist, playwright and journalist. The first phase of his life had nothing to do with literary production, as he worked variously as an employee in various commercial branches. He began his activity as a man of letters working professionally in the press, especially in the Diário da Manhã directed at the time by Sousa Gomes, subsequently moving to several other newspapers. His debut as a poet dates back to 1930, with the volume Alvor: Cantares da Lusa Gente, followed by a substantial output in prose and verse, almost always with a strong religious and nationalist leaning. One can even classify Santos Cravina, without any hesitation, as a true panegyrist of the ideals of the Estado Novo and, above all, of the figure of Salazar. He was a member of the National Union of Journalists and an official of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, working in the Regulatory Commission for Raw Cotton Trade. After the revolution of 25 April 1974, he went into exile in Spain, writing his last works in Castilian.