José Gonçalinho

Poet. After primary education, he joined the Benedictine Order, where, upon completing his Humanities studies, he entered the novitiate, made temporary vows, and completed a Philosophy course. Due to his frail health, he requested dispensation from his vows and, in 1938, left the Order, though he always remained connected to the Benedictines. He began his professional life as an office clerk in the bookstore and administrative services of the diocesan weekly Voz de Lamego. Meanwhile, he completed an Accounting course and joined CTT (Portuguese Post Office). After a short internship in Lisbon's central services, he was transferred to Vila Real, where he ended his career as a chief clerk. However, his passion for literature led him to collaborate in various cultural and artistic initiatives, even forming a choir and founding the newspaper Ordem Nova. He wrote numerous poems (particularly sonnets), many of which are unpublished, that demonstrate rare elevation and beauty, both in form and content, and which were published in the Benedictine magazine Mensageiro de S. Bento and in regional publications. He is represented in the Antologia da Poesia Contemporânea de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, organized by Carlos Loures (1968). He was awarded several national and regional prizes. He collected his writings in Musa Antiga (1958).