Ferreira, Vergílio

Portuguese novelist and essayist (b. Jan. 28, 1916, Melo, Port.--d. March 1, 1996, Sintra, Port.), was a leading literary figure who created extremely sympathetic and eloquent characters--often old men looking back on their lives--who sought the ultimate meaning of human existence. Contrary to the wishes of his family, Ferreira abandoned his religious training for a degree in classics from