Manuel Simões

Jesuit, having entered the Society in 1942, priest since 1956, composer, poet, and university professor. He attended the Faculdade de Filosofia de Braga (1947–1950) and the Faculty of Theology in Granada, Spain (1952–1956), subsequently teaching at high school level in Lisbon and Caldas da Saúde (Santo Tirso) and at university level—Portuguese Literature and Culture—at the Faculdade de Filosofia de Braga. He was head of the Fundação Cupertino de Miranda in Famalicão, director of the Casa-Museu de Camilo Castelo Branco in São Miguel de Ceide (Famalicão), and founder of the Centro de Estudos Camilianos. He directed the series Deus Escondido for Editorial do Apostolado da Oração. In his liturgical work, he published several volumes and composed various chants for Eucharistic celebrations. He dedicated his Camilian research to an area usually given little consideration: the poetry of Camilo Castelo Branco. An exceptional priest figure, of free and critical spirit, he left behind essayistic contributions scattered across the journals Brotéria, Magnificat, Forum, and Mensageiro. He translated texts by Kahlil Gibran, Amado Nervo, and Rabindranath Tagore.