José Saramago was born November 16, 1922 in Azinhaga, Portugal. He was the son of rural labourers, and grew up in great poverty in Lisbon. After holding a series of jobs as mechanic and metalworker, Saramago began working in a Lisbon publishing firm and eventually became a journalist and translator. He did not begin writing novels until he was in his 50s.

Saramago often set whimsical and allegorical parables against backgrounds of varying degrees of realism. His works were often deeply philosophical explorations which examined and satirised the nature of the human condition. His ironic commentary on universally human foibles is perhaps exemplified most notably in his novella, The Tale of the Unknown Island, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.

As a result of what he considered censorship, Saramago went into self-imposed exile on the Canary Islands for the remainder of his life. He passed away on June 18, 2010.