António Lobo Antunes

António Lobo Antunes (; 1 September 1942 – 5 March 2026) was a Portuguese novelist and medical doctor. He was awarded the 2000 Austrian State Prize, the 2003 Ovid Prize, the 2005 Jerusalem Prize, the 2007 Camões Prize, and the 2008 Juan Rulfo Prize. Lobo Antunes was repeatedly nominated as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Life and career António Lobo Antunes was born in Lisbon on 1 September 1942 as the eldest of six sons of João Alfredo de Figueiredo Lobo Antunes, prominent neurologist and professor, close collaborator of António Egas Moniz, Nobel Prize winner in physiology, and wife Margareida de Almeida Lima. He was the brother of João Lobo Antunes and Manuel Lobo Antunes. According to Lobo Antunes, he was of German descent through his father and of Jewish descent through his maternal grandfather. In one interview, he stated that his mother's family came from Brazil; in another, he stated that it was his father who was of Brazilian origin.

By the end of his education, Lobo Antunes had to serve with the Portuguese Army to take part in the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974). In a military hospital in Angola, he became interested in the subjects of death and "the other." Lobo Antunes came back from Africa in 1973. In 1979, Lobo Antunes published his first novels, Memória de Elefante (Elephant's Memory) and Os Cus de Judas; in 1980, he published another novel, Conhecimento do Inferno. He practised psychiatry as well, mainly at the Hospital Miguel Bombarda of Lisbon, leaving in 1985 to dedicate himself to literature.

Personal life and death Relationships Lobo Antunes was married three times. He married his first wife Maria José Xavier da Fonseca e Costa in 1970, by whom he had two daughters: Maria José Lobo Antunes and Joana Lobo Antunes. His second wife was Maria João Espírito Santo Bustorff Silva, by whom he had one daughter, Maria Isabel Bustorff Lobo Antunes. In 2010, he married Cristina Ferreira de Almeida.

Health In 2007, Lobo Antunes revealed that he had been operated for intestinal cancer. He suffered from progressive dementia, which forced him to give up both his long-standing smoking habit and his writing. He died on 5 March 2026, at the age of 83, with a national day of mourning declared on 7 March. His funeral was held at the Jerónimos Monastery on 7 March. Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa honored him with a posthumous Order of Camões.

Awards (1985 and 1999) Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (2004) Conhecimento do Inferno (1980) Explicação dos Pássaros (1981) Fado Alexandrino (1983). Fado Alexandrino, trans. Gregory Rabassa (1990). Caminha Como Numa Casa em Chamas (2014) Da Natureza dos Deuses (2015) Para Aquela que Está Sentada no Escuro à Minha Espera (2016) Até Que as Pedras Se Tornem Mais Leves Que a Água (2016) A Última Porta Antes da Noite (2018) A Outra Margem do Mar (2019) Diccionario da Linguagem das Flores (2020) O Tamanho do Mundo (2022)