Portugal's Day: Luis de Camões Day

Since 1978, 10 June has been designated as the day of Portugal, of Camões and of the Portuguese communities. Luís Vaz de Camões, Portuguese poet and playwright, gives his name to the Institute that regulates the Portuguese language worldwide. The Camões Institute, an institution that represents Portugal and brings the country closer to the different Portuguese-speaking communities around the world. It should not be forgotten that Portuguese is the sixth most widely spoken language on the planet with nearly 400 million speakers and is an official language in nine countries on four different continents. 

Author of ‘Os Lusíadas’, one of the masterpieces of Portuguese literature. It is made up of ten songs, each of which is composed of eight-line stanzas celebrating Portugal's maritime and warlike exploits. Among the episodes narrated, Canto III stands out, which tells the story of the assassination of Inês de Castro, in 1355, a story that we tell in our free tour of Vila Nova de Gaia, as well as many other episodes of the history of this country. Maximum representative of classicism in Portugal, giving literary support to the ideas of the Renaissance. A current consisting of an artistic conception based on the imitation of the Greek and Latin classics, considered models of antiquity. But in addition to epic poetry, Luis Vaz de Camões wrote lyrical and dramatic verse. 

About his life, there is little certainty, most of what is known is obtained from interpretations of his work, although some facts are agreed upon. He was born in Lisbon in 1524, attended the University of Coimbra, was a soldier and lost an eye during a battle in Morocco. He had the spirit of a restless traveller and visited Arabia, Macao, Mozambique and India. In 1569, Camões decided to return to Portugal after 16 years around the world writing adventures of the former colonies and Portuguese history. He took a slave with him, who accompanied him until his last days. In 1572 he published his magnum opus, Os Lusíadas, with such success that Camões received an annual pension from King D. Sebastião, although he died in absolute poverty in Lisbon on 10 June 1580. That is why the day of his death is celebrated as Portugal, Camões and Portuguese communities' day.