Ariano Suassuna

Ariano Suassuna was a Brazilian writer and playwright, one of the most important and influential authors of the 20th century in Brazil. He was born in João Pessoa, in 1927, and studied law and literature at the Federal University of Pernambuco. He began his literary career in 1947, publishing his first play, Uma Mulher Vestida de Sol. He was one of the founders and leaders of the Movimento Armorial, which valued the cultural diversity and artistic expression of the Northeast of Brazil. He wrote several plays, novels, short stories, essays, and poems, such as Auto da Compadecida, A Pedra do Reino, O Romance d'A Pedra do Reino e o Príncipe do Sangue do Vai-e-Volta, and Romanceiro da Inconfidência. He was also a journalist, a translator, a teacher, and a public servant. He was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and received several awards and honors for his literary work. He died in 2014, at the age of 87, in Recife. He is regarded as one of the greatest masters of Brazilian literature and theater, and one of the main representatives of the Northeastern culture.