José Maria Eça de Queirós is a Portuguese novelist, born November 25, 1845, in Povoa de Varzim. His surname was originally spelt Eça de Queiróz and as such appears on many editions. He is generally considered to be the greatest Portugese writer in the realist style. At age 16 he went to Coimbra to study law. His first works, published as a serial in the Gazeta de Portugal magazine, appeared in a collection after he died entitled Prosas Bárbaras (Barbaric prose).

In 1869 and 1870, Eça de Queirós travelled to Egypt and watched the Suez Canal being opened, which inspired several of his works, most notably O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra (The Mystery of Sintra road) from 1870 and A Relíquia (The Relic), only published in 1887. When he was later dispatched to Leiria to work as a municipal administrator, Eça de Queirós wrote his first real-life Portuguese novel, O Crime do Padre Amaro (Father Amaro's Crime), which appeared in 1875.

Apparently, Eça de Queirós spent the most productive years of his life in England, as a Consul of Portugal in Newcastle and Bristol. He then wrote some of his most important works, including A Tragédia da Rua das Flores (The Tragedy on Flower Street) and A Capital (Capital), written in a savvy fantastic yet realist prose. His most quoted works, Os Maias (The Maias) and O Mandarim (The old mandarin), were written in England as well.

He died in 1900 of tuberculosis. His works were translated into about 20 languages, including English. The well-known Dutch writer J. Slauerhoff translated O crime do Padre Amaro into Dutch in 1932 (De misdaad van Pater Amaro).

In 2002 Carlos Carrera directed a Spanish-language version of Father Amaro's Crime (El Crimen Del Padre Amaro) in Mexico. It starred Gael Garcia Bernal as Father Amaro and was greeted with public outrage in Mexico, where Christian groups called for it to be banned. It won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

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