Casa Fernando Pessoa

Located in the former house of Fernando Pessoa, one of Portugal’s most significant 20th-century literary figures, this museum is dedicated to his life work and shows some artifacts that belonged to him.

Fernando Pessoa was born on June 13, 1888, in Lisbon. His father died when he was young and later, in 1896, he moved to Durban, South Africa, with his mother. There he studied at an Irish convent, where he learned English as well as other languages. Pessoa returned to Lisbon in 1905, and remained in Portugal for the rest of his life. He died in 1935.

Pessoa is known for his unique writing style where he writes not only as him but also as other entities which are called heteronyms. These heteronyms are fictional persons very different from each other and the poet himself with distinct writing styles. The three main heteronyms Pessoa created were Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis and Álvaro de Campos. The heteronyms had birth dates, jobs, education, death dates and one of them even died after the poet himself.

The museum is made up of three main floors: the third floor shows some of the poet’s early works like newspapers that he wrote during his childhood and his first heteronym. It also shows a writing machine that he used, although he preferred the pencil, and also some paintings of the poet. The second floor hosts his former library with some of the books he read and some of the books he wrote in diverse languages.

The first floor is his former apartment, where he lived his last 15 years, with his bedroom, office and other divisions. Although some of the walls were demolished the former house plan is drawn on the floor. It also hosts an exhibition with some objects that he used in his daily life.