Vítor Aguiar e Silva is the winner of the Camões Prize 2020
Vítor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva was chosen by the jury in recognition of the transversal importance of his essay work, and his active role in matters of Portuguese language politics and the canon of Portuguese language literature.
Vítor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva, essayist and university professor, was born in Penalva do Castelo, in 1939. At the University of Coimbra, he obtained all his degrees and academic titles and was full professor at the Faculty of Letters until 1989, the year in which he requested transfer to the University of Minho.
At this University he was also a full professor at the Institute of Letters and Human Sciences, founded and directed the Center for Humanistic Studies and the journal Diacrítica. He also served as vice-chancellor, from June 1990 to July 2002, when he retired.
Vítor Aguiar e Silva has dedicated himself especially to the study of Literary Theory, a field in which the relevance of his teaching and research is nationally and internationally recognized, and Portuguese Literature of Mannerism, Baroque and Modernism. His research activity has focused mainly on Camonian studies.
The essayist has received several awards, including the Vergílio Ferreira Prize of 2002, awarded by the University of Évora, the Vida Literária Prize in 2007, instituted by the Portuguese Writers Association and Caixa Geral de Depósitos, and the Vasco Graça Moura Prize of Cultural Citizenship in 2018.
