Frederico Lourenço was born in Lisbon in 1963. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Classical Languages and Literatures from the University of Lisbon in 1988, where he later earned his Ph.D. with a thesis on the lyrics of Euripides. His dissertation, titled The Lyric Metres of Euripidean Drama (Coimbra, Classica Digitalia, 2011), was unanimously approved by a jury that included Maria Helena da Rocha Pereira (University of Coimbra) and James Diggle (University of Cambridge). He is an associate professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra, as well as a translator, essayist and poet.

His work as a translator has been considered a significant contribution to Portuguese culture, with his direct translations from Greek of the works of Homer serving as major references for the study of these works in Portugal. His translation of The Iliad is included in the Portuguese National Reading Plan, and his translation of The Odyssey was awarded the Dom Dinis Prize 2004 and the APT/APE Grand Prize for Literary Translation 2004. In 2016, Frederico Lourenço published the first volume of his most ambitious translation project to date: a direct translation of the Greek Bible from the original text.

In December 2016, the author was honored with the Pessoa Prize, awarded annually to a Portuguese citizen who, during that period  — and building on previous accomplishments  — has made a particularly relevant and innovative contribution to the artistic, literary, or scientific life of the country.

His recent publications include: Nova Gramática do Latim (2019); Latim do Zero a Vergílio em 50 Lições e Poesia Grega de Hesíodo a Teócrito (bilingual edition, in Greek and Portuguese, 2020); Bucólicas de Vergílio (in Latin and Portuguese, 2021); Pode um Desejo Imenso (2022); Evangelhos Apócrifos (2022).

Day 02.11 | 21.30 | Opening session of the Utopia literary festival