Paulo Coelho: A Brazilian Alchemist

Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He was born in Rio de Janeiro to a traditional Catholic family. Paulo Coelho liked to write at a young age, but he was discouraged by his father who wanted his son to be an engineer. Because of that, Paulo had depressive episodes requiring hospitalization during adolescence. During the 60's, he devoted himself to theater, and in the 70’s, he joined The Hippie Movement, at which time he composed songs for popular Brazilian singers like Rita Lee, Elis Regina, Raul Seixas, the latter being an important partner. In 1980 Coelho married the artist, Christina Oiticica, who remains his life-long support.

In 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela, a turning point in his life. On the path, Coelho had a spiritual awakening, which he described in the autobiographical book, The Pilgrimage.

His work, The Alchemist is the best-selling Brazilian book of all time and is considered an important literary phenomenon of the twentieth century. As of 2016, The Alchemist has been translated into 70 languages. This gave Coelho the position as the world's most translated living author, according to the 2009 Guinness World Records. According to his wife, the book was written in 15 days. The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd on his trip to Egypt after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there. The main theme of the book is finding your own destiny. 

In another book, Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho tells the story of 24-year-old Slovenian, Veronika, who appears to have everything in life going for her, but who decides to kill herself. This book is partly based on Coelho's experience in various mental institutions. According to the author, the Veronika character is himself, hospitalized three times in psychiatric hospitals, from where he extracted elements for his realistic and touching accounts of depression in this book.

Despite being a popular author whose books are between the romance and self-help genres, he won a chair at the Brazilian Academy of Letters. The academy is considered the foremost institution devoted to the Portuguese language in Brazil.