Ruy Belo

Who is Ruy Belo?

Ruy de Moura Belo was a Portuguese poet and essayist. He is considered one of the most famous existentialists of the twentieth century in Portuguese-speaking countries. Ruy Belo also worked as a translator.

Born in the small community of São João da Ribeira, near Rio Maior, Ruy Belo began to study law at the University of Coimbra Law in 1952. He finished his law degree in 1956 at the University of Lisbon. He then studied canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Belo earned a doctorate in the same subject soon afterward, with a thesis entitled Ficção literario e Censura Eclesiástica regarding German literary fiction and religious censorship. During his stay in Rome Ruy Belo was also a member of the Catholic organization Opus Dei.

After returning to Portugal, Ruy Belo worked as Deputy Head of Department in the Ministry of Education.

In June 2003, a statue of Belo was erected in the Parque dos Poetas in Oeiras.