author

João de Figueiredo Maio e Lima

1779–1851

A Portuguese poet and priest from Galveias, he is remembered today mainly for Testamento poético-anacreôntico, a lively work that helped keep his name in literary history. Surviving references paint him as a writer whose verse mixed playful, classical touches with a life touched by hardship.

1 Audiobook

Testamento Poetico-Anachreontico

Testamento Poetico-Anachreontico

by João de Figueiredo Maio e Lima

About the author

João de Figueiredo Maio e Lima was born in 1779 in Galveias, Portugal, and died in 1851. The records I could confirm describe him as a Portuguese writer, and at least one contemporary-style source also identifies him as a priest connected with Borba.

He is best known for Testamento poético-anacreôntico, the work most often associated with his name in major digital libraries and public-domain editions. Material preserved with later editions presents him as a poet with an Anacreontic streak — light, lyrical, and often playful in tone — while also suggesting that his life included periods of trouble and confinement.

Although detailed biographical information is scarce in the sources I found, his work has been preserved through literary archives and Project Gutenberg, which has helped keep this lesser-known 19th-century Portuguese voice available to modern readers.