Portuguese Translations of Thomas More’s Utopia

This article examines two inevitable questions when one is writing on Utopia and Portugal: the fact that Raphael Hythloday was identified as being Portuguese and the reception of Utopia in Portugal, no doubt influenced by the fact that the book was forbidden by the Inquisition. It then examines in full detail the six translations of Thomas More’s work into European Portuguese, from Agostinho da Silva’s partial translation in 1946 to Aires do Nascimento’s critical translation in 2006, reflecting on the circumstances of the reception of these translations in the framework of the Portuguese dictatorship.