WRITER

Mariana Alcoforado

1640 - 1723

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Sóror Mariana Alcoforado (Santa Maria da Feira, Beja, 22 April 1640 – Beja, 28 July 1723) was a Portuguese nun living in the convent of the Poor Clares (Convento de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Convent of Our Lady of the Conception) in Beja, Portugal. Debate continues as to whether Mariana was the real Portuguese author of the Letters of a Portuguese Nun (comprising five letters). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Mariana Alcoforado has received more than 43,933 page views. Her biography is available in 15 different languages on Wikipedia. Mariana Alcoforado is the 2,600th most popular writer (down from 2,583rd in 2019), the 215th most popular biography from Portugal (down from 208th in 2019) and the 14th most popular Portuguese Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 44k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 54.16

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 15

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.61

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.77

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Cartes d'amor de la monja portuguesa
2006
Letters from a Portuguese Nun to an Officer in the French Army
2018
Lettres portugaises
Fiction, Correspondence, Love-letters
**Note on authorship**: These “Lettres portugaises” were originally published as having been written by an unknown author in Portuguese and translated into French, also by an unknown translator. Eventually, they came to be ascribed to Sister Marianna Alcoforado, and countless editions were published throughout the centuries under her name. More recent scholarship, however, has considered more plausible that the letters were written by Gabriel de Guilleragues in French, and increasingly new editions are attributed to him. The authorship question is not settled, and new editions continue to be published attributing the letters to Sister Mariana as well.
1669
Lettres Amoureuses d'héloïse & D'abeilard
2022
Lettres Portugaises
2015
Letters of a Portuguese Nun
2023

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Mariana Alcoforado ranks 2,600 out of 7,302. Before her are Gerald Gardner, Emma Orczy, Friedrich von Lütke, Édouard Glissant, Apion, and Jónas Hallgrímsson. After her are George Whitefield, Ubayd Zakani, Géza Gárdonyi, Paschasius Radbertus, Banana Yoshimoto, and Tobias Smollett.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1640, Mariana Alcoforado ranks 15. Before her are Gaspar Sanz, Aphra Behn, Antoine Coysevox, Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Abraham Mignon, and Philippe de La Hire. After her are Jacques Ozanam, Willem de Vlamingh, Gerard de Lairesse, Claude Fleury, Georg Mohr, and Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester. Among people deceased in 1723, Mariana Alcoforado ranks 13. Before her are Godfrey Kneller, Anne Christine of Sulzbach, Princess of Piedmont, Antonio Maria Valsalva, Praskovia Saltykova, Zanabazar, and Guillaume Dubois. After her are Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, Anne Henriette of Bavaria, Jan Santini Aichel, Claude Fleury, and Johann Christian Günther.

Others Born in 1640

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Others Deceased in 1723

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In Portugal

Among people born in Portugal, Mariana Alcoforado ranks 215 out of 633. Before her are Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Aragon (1328), Nuno Tristão (1500), Pauleta (1973), Fernando II, Duke of Braganza (1430), Jorge Álvares (1401), and Fernando I, Duke of Braganza (1403). After her are Humberto Coelho (1950), Afonso, Duke of Porto (1865), Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919), João Cancelo (1994), Tristão Vaz Teixeira (1395), and Garcia de Orta (1499).

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Among WRITERS In Portugal

Among writers born in Portugal, Mariana Alcoforado ranks 14. Before her are João de Barros (1496), Camilo Castelo Branco (1825), Luís Fróis (1532), Almeida Garrett (1799), Tomé Pires (1468), and António Vieira (1608). After her are Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919), Alexandre Herculano (1810), Miguel Torga (1907), Duarte Barbosa (1480), Francisco de Sá de Miranda (1491), and Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1890).

Portuguese born Writers

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