Tomás Ribeiro Colaço

Descended from a family of artists (grandson of Tomás Ribeiro and son of Jorge Colaço and Branca de Gonta Colaço), he was a lawyer, poet, and playwright. He particularly distinguished himself as a humoristic critic, his style having been compared to that of Eça de Queirós. Indeed, he named Fradique the literary weekly he founded and directed in 1934, the first of its kind in Portugal, and in which controversy simmered, perhaps the only way to attract the public. A stylist of rare imitative talent, or pasticheur (like João de Meira from Guimarães), Tomás Ribeiro Colaço filled the 1st issue of his newspaper with apocryphal texts, in prose and verse, by the most gifted authors of the time (Aquilino, Fidelino, Correia de Oliveira, etc.) – a feat he soon clarified, astonishing readers. His highly popular lectures on Emissora Nacional were humorous, collected in the volumes Ao Microfone Tal Qual Se Fala and Às Duas em Ponto. A staunch monarchist, he was secretary of the Monarchist Youth and wrote in defense of the rights and personality of D. Duarte Nuno. He engaged in intense journalistic activity in Portugal (where he was president of the Portuguese Press Union) and in Brazil, where he settled in 1940. As a poet, he was awarded in Spain. As a playwright, he won the 1st prize for plays for the Trindade, in 1936, with Uma Mulher... e o Mesmo Homem, in a romantic social style, performed two years later at the Nacional. With Virgínia Vitorino, he wrote A Estrangeirinha, a 3-act play, which, performed at the Teatro do Ginásio (1932), remained unpublished. But his highest quality work for the theater was the «dramatic poem» D. Sebastião, also staged at the Nacional in 1933. He wrote several novels, including O Trevo de Quatro Folhas, for cinema. He published several translations.