Clara Pinto Correia
The writer and scientist, who had been away from public life for a few years, died after an episode of sudden illness. The President of the Republic has already sent his condolences.
The writer, biologist and university professor Clara Pinto Correia was found dead this Tuesday at her home in Estremoz, Alentejo, at the age of 65. The news, reported by , was confirmed by the publisher Exclamação, responsible for publishing his most recent book, Antares, released in June last year.
According to , Clara Pinto Correia was found dead after a “episode of sudden illness“.INEM and the Estremoz firefighters were called at 9:47 am.
Daughter of José Manuel Pinto Correia and Maria Adelaide da Cunha and Vasconcelos de Carvalho Amado, the writer was also the sister of journalist Margarida Pinto Correia. He was author of the novel “Goodbye Princess”published at the age of 25, having also been a chronicler, journalist, presenter and even acted as an actress in the film “Kiss me” by António Cunha Telles.
With a degree in Biology from the University of Lisbon and a PhD from the University of Porto, Clara Pinto Correia also devoted himself to science and participated in research in Embryology at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência and in the United States.
A notable figure in Portuguese intellectual and cultural life since the 1980s, Clara Pinto Correia had been away from public life in recent years, living discreetly in Estremoz. In an interview with Sábado, in January, the author revealed that she had been through serious personal and professional difficultiesafter becoming unemployed and spending almost two years without unemployment benefits, having even received an eviction order from the house where she had lived for three decades.
The writer’s career was also marked by controversy in 2003, when she was accused of plagiarism in an article published in Visão magazine. In the same interview with Sábado, Pinto Correia recalled the media impact of the case, admitting that she was surprised and did not initially understand the accusations.
In a message published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa deeply regretted the author’s death, presenting to her family and friends “affectionate feelings, dismayed by her premature departure”. The President remembered Clara Pinto Correia as someone endowed with “joy of life”, “intelligence” and “brilliance”, qualities that, he stated, were always manifested in her scientific, literary and communicational activity. “Never left anyone indifferent”, wrote the head of state.
