Antero de Quental
Portuguese poet (1842–1891)
Antero Tarquínio de Quental (European Portuguese: [ɐ̃ˈtɛɾu ðɨ kẽˈtal]; old spelling Anthero; 18 April 1842 – 11 September 1891) was a Portuguese poet, philosopher, and writer. Quental is regarded as one of the greatest poets of his generation and is recognized as one of the most influential Portuguese language artists of all time. His name is often mentioned alongside Luís Vaz de Camões, Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, and Fernando Pessoa.
Throughout his life, Quental oscillated between pessimism and depression; afflicted with what might have been bipolar disorder, at the time of his last trip to Lisbon, he was in a state of steady depression, compounded by spinal disease. On September 11 1891, he committed suicide by firing two shots into his mouth while seated on a bench in a garden park.
Biography
Early life and childhood
Antero de Quental was born in Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. His family was among the oldest families of the provincial captaincy system. His father was Fernando de Quental (10 May 1814 – 7 March 1873), a veteran of the Portuguese Liberal Wars, who took part in the Landing of Mindelo. Antero's mother was Ana Guilhermina da Maia (16 July 1811 – 28 November 1876), a devout relative of Fr. Bartolomeu de Quental, founder of the Congregation of the Oratory in Portugal.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Antero de Quental” is portuguese poet (1842–1891). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Antero, Quental and Portuguese, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q467494. VIAF identifies the subject as 100254861. The Library of Congress control number is n82215922. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1842, 1891, 1814 and 1873.
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This entry incorporates text from “Antero de Quental” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.