The death of the poet Nuno Júdice, at the age of 74, has already been noted by several people and institutions, who highlighted his importance in contemporary Portuguese poetry.
In a message published on the social network
“She achieved particular recognition for her poetic work, marked by a lyrical language and deep introspection, having received numerous national and international literary awards. In addition to all her books, Júdice also made a decisive contribution to the cultural debate in our country since the late 1960s, being a prominent academic and literary critic”, can be read in the note shared by the Ministry of Culture.
Among those who have already expressed their sadness over Nuno Júdice’s death is also the former Minister of Culture João Soares, who recalled, through a message published on Facebook, the poet’s friendship and intelligence.
“He was 74 years old. We were the same age. We knew each other very well since University. For many years we were close friends. He was someone of great culture and intelligence. He left a remarkable work, especially in poetry, but not only”, he said, adding : “We have lost one of the most notable intellectuals of our time. To his wife, his children, and his closest family, I leave here testimony of my deepest regret.”
Another former holder of the Culture portfolio, Luís Filipe Castro Mendes, a very close friend and also a poet, remembers their trips together and a friendship that lasted 60 years. “He was premature in everything: in 1972 he published his first book, The Notion of Poem, where a unique and unique voice was already asserted in Portuguese poetry of our generation. This voice and this poetics have been refined over the years and Nuno’s poetry has become a high achievement in our poetic panorama, with a lyrical construction that is sometimes paradoxical, always insinuating a fine and implicit irony over the texts”, tells PÚBLICO Castro Mendes, in a brief statement sent by email. “Our friendship goes back a long way and comes from an Algarve that is also common to us. As a family, the four of us, two couples, traveled around the country and met around the world. It’s hard to say goodbye.”
The José Saramago Foundation recalled Nuno Júdice’s journey as a member of its board of trustees on the social network X and “deeply” regretted the poet’s death.
Also on this platform, the president of this foundation, Pilar del Rio, evoked not only Nuno Júdice’s role in poetry, but above all “an irreplaceable friend, a silent sage”, highlighting the fact that he was awarded the Queen Sofia Prize for Poetry Ibero-American (2013), among other distinctions.
The board of directors of the Gulbenkian Foundation also wanted to join in the tributes to the poet and essayist who became director of one of the company’s magazines, the Colloquium-Lettersem 2009.
In a brief note sent to the newsrooms, Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, executive administrator, highlighted his “absolutely unique talent in terms of literature, poetry and essays”, but also Júdice’s role as promoter of the Colloquium-Letters by “revealing the best that is done in the field of letters in Portugal”.
Its publisher, D. Quixote, expressed in a message published on social media “deep regret and consternation” at the death of Nuno Júdice and considered that the news “leaves Portuguese literature and poetry poorer”, remembering the journey written since 1972, since then becoming “one of the most notable and recognized Portuguese poets”.
The impact of Nuno Júdice’s death was also recognized on social media by other publishers, such as Quetzal, which argued that the poet who died today at the age of 74 “occupies a unique place that will never be occupied” in national culture, or Sibila , who remembered the “excellent author and great friend” with whom he had “the pleasure and honor of carrying out important editorial projects”.
Among politicians in positions outside the sphere of Culture, reactions were also quick to wait since Sunday night.
The head of state chose the page of the presidency of the republic to express his regret at the death of the author, which he considered “decisive in a time of transition in Portuguese poetry”.
“His poetic work and the work of decades in different institutions were a greater contribution to the uniqueness, cosmopolitanism and projection of Portuguese literature”, wrote Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in the note in which he pays condolences to the family, in particular his wife , Manuela Júdice, and in which he speaks of Nuno Júdice as “one of the most prolific Portuguese poets” and “the most internationally recognized”.
The Prime Minister, António Costa, reacted on the social network X (formerly Twitter) to the death of the poet and critic, remembering his “infinite kindness” and thanking his “friendship and camaraderie”.
“Portuguese culture lost, with the death of Nuno Júdice, one of its most recognized poets and concise novelist”, wrote Costa. “As his wife predicted to me, ‘he began his descent slowly in silence, as is his habit’. “
The President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, used the same social network to declare “the news of the death of Nuno Júdice, one of the great contemporary poets in the Portuguese language”, is very sad, also expressing his solidarity with the family.
Nuno Júdice was born in Mexilhoeira Grande, in Portimão, in the district of Faro, in 1949.
Poet, essayist and fiction writer, Nuno Júdice was, until 2015, a professor at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
Literally, he made his debut in 1972 with the poetry book “A Noção de Poema”.
Throughout his literary career, Nuno Júdice received several distinctions, including the Pen Clube Prize, the D. Dinis Prize from Casa de Mateus and the Grand Prize for Poetry from the Portuguese Writers Association.
News updated at 1:22 pm.