Paulo Coelho

(Rio de Janeiro, 1947) Brazilian narrator, journalist and television scriptwriter. A multifaceted humanist,
Paulo Coelho has successfully delved into worlds as diverse as music, the press, theater and television,
although his name has been definitively established in the field of contemporary narrative, a genre that
he has enriched with a of the most important short novels of the last quarter of the 20th century: The
Alchemist.

Paulo Coelho

Son of a wealthy family, Paulo Coelho received a careful primary and secondary education from the
Jesuits, from which he went on to pursue higher studies in law. But, encouraged from an early age by a
marked literary vocation, he abandoned these university studies to let himself be carried away by his
passion for writing and dedicate himself to any activity that would allow him to be in direct contact with
literary creation.

Thus, for some time he taught as a theater professor, an occupation that he alternated with his first
compositions of musical lyrics for samba and bossa nova groups. In these lyrics by Paulo Coellho, an
influence of different spiritual currents can be clearly seen, closely related to the postulates of the hippie
movement of the sixties. Years later (from 1974 to 1981), his musical interests and knowledge led him to
accept an executive position at the Polygram record company. Previously, Paulo Coelho had also worked
in journalism, a dedication that culminated in a period as head of the Express Underground newspaper.

While carrying out these varied activities, Coelho did not abandon his efforts to become an established
writer. Finally, the decisive push came to him in 1981, when he traveled to Holland with his wife to
establish direct contact with a mysterious character, Jean, who from then on became his teacher and
began to exert an influence on the Brazilian writer. similar to what a spiritual guide leaves in his acolytes.

Jean introduced Paulo Coelho to the RAM brotherhood (Regnum Agnum Mundi), a kind of religious
order of Catholic confession, which has its origins in medieval Spain. From then on, Coelho, who was
named a knight of said order, began to lavish his visits to Spain, which resulted in his first notable
contribution to universal narrative. This is The Diary of a Magician, a work in which he recounts the
adventures of his own pilgrimage to Santiago, in search of a sword that represents the maximum power
in his mysterious brotherhood.