António Pereira de Figueiredo C.O. (February 14, 1725 – August 14, 1797) was a Portuguese priest, Latinist, theologian, philologist, and canonist. He is best known for his translation of the Vulgate into Portuguese.
Biography
editBorn in Mação, Figueiredo studied Latin and music at a small school in Vila Viçosa, then moved to Coimbra to continue his studies at the Monastery of the Holy Cross, later joining the Oratory of Saint Philip Nery, at one of whose houses he studied philosophy and rhetoric.[1][2]
A staunch regalist, he collaborated with Marquis de Pombal in his struggle against the Jesuits, seeking to justify the Absolute Monarchy in his political writings.[3][4][5] In 1768, he was appointed a member of the Real Mesa Censória (pt), a censorship body that took over the functions of the Holy Office in judging which books were allowed to circulate in the Kingdom of Portugal.[6]
In 1753, Figueiredo published Novo Methodo da Grammatica Latina, a didatic work that proposed a simplified methodology for the study of Latin, which contrasted with that presented in Manuel Álvares' consecrated manual De institutione grammatica, then widely used in Jesuit schools.[7] Six years later, he authored Os Elementos de Invenção e Locuçam Retorica, a compilation of lessons on rhetoric.
Figueiredo began translating the Bible as a well-established grammarian, in an undertaking that would take eighteen years to be completed. His translation, marked by a Baroque, highly literary style, was the first unabridged version of the Bible in Portuguese.[8][9]
References
edit- ^ "Nos 300 anos do padre António Pereira de Figueiredo". Sete Margens (in European Portuguese). 2025-02-18. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
- ^ Romeiras, Francisco Malta. "Padre António Pereira de Figueiredo, o teólogo de Pombal". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-12-09.
- ^ Canaveira, Manuel (1990). "A ligitimação histórica da monarquia absoluta na obra do Padre António Pereira de Figueiredo". Revista da FCSH - Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. 5: 171–187.
- ^ "Lançamento do livro: "Pombal contra Roma, a tentativa teológica do Padre António Pereira de Figueiredo" | UCP". www.ucp.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ Silva, Emilly Joyce Oliveira Lopes (2019-09-30). "A Faceta política da Tentativa Teológica (1766): relações estado-igreja na obra de um ilustrado português". Temporalidades (in Portuguese). 11 (2): 346–367. ISSN 1984-6150.
- ^ "António Pereira de Figueiredo". cvc.instituto-camoes.pt. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
- ^ Coelho, Sónia; Fontes, Susana; Kemmler, Rolf (2016). "Antonio Pereira de Figueiredo's «Prologo aos que lerem o Novo Methodo da Grammatica Latina and his thoughts on Manuel Alvares' Latin grammar". Beitrage zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft. 26.
- ^ Gonçalves, Maria Filomena (2006). "As ideias pedagógicas e linguísticas de António Pereira de Figueiredo: os manuscritos autógrafos da Biblioteca Pública de Évora". dspace.uevora.pt. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ^ "Cultura: Primeira edição da tradução da Bíblia em português foi atirada ao mar e as seguintes chegaram aos 200 milhões de exemplares – Agência ECCLESIA" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-12-10.
