José Saramago a casa Museum

General information

Destination	Category
Lanzarote, Spain	Attractions/Entertainment

Program details

José Saramago was born in the small village of Azinhaga, in the province of Ribatejo, on 16th November 1922. He was less than two years old before his parents moved to Lisbon. He studied up to secondary level but financial constraints meant he was unable to complete his studies. His first job was as a locksmith, then welfare civil servant, translator, editor and journalist.

In 1947 he published his first book, a novel called Terra do Pecado (Country of Sin). From 1976 he earned his living just from his literary work, first as translator and then as an author. He married the spanish journalist Pilar del Río. Since 1993 they decided to live on the island of Lanzarote. In 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first ever for works written in Portuguese. José Saramago Home-Museum was opened on 18th March 2011. The tour starts with a visit through the writer´s house. A lightfull entrance hall with a César Manrique engraving, Portuguese artists works (David de Almeida, Rogéiro Ribeiro) and Spanish (Ildefonso Aguilar, Pepe Dámaso, Manolo Millares). In the study his humble pine desk, family photos and Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998 memories. The living room: relaxing and reading place; Santa Bárbara, Tapiès and Oscar Niemayer paintings.

The bedroom where he died on 18th June 2010 shows a drawing by Rafael Alberti. The kitchen, a warm room overlooking a nice garden, is witness of numerous meetings (important names in contemporary culture, politicians and judges). In the library, built in 2006, the books are organized according to the different authors’ countries of origin and personal criteria; Saramago wrote here his last two novels “The journey of the elephant” and “Caín”. The conference room, with an etching by the Nobel Prize for Literature Gao Xingjian, is used by teachers, students and press meetings. At the end of the visit you can buy either souvenirs or José Saramago´s books in our Museum shop.

Start/opening time: Monday to Saturday: 10am till 2pm.
Information: Guided and audioguided visits to José Saramago´s home and library.
Others Last visit at 1:30pm.