Writing Made Them Rich #4: Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho was born on August 24, 1947 in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
At the age of 17 he announced his intention to be a writer.
It was a decision bitterly opposed by her parents,
partly because Brazil at the time was under a
military junta that persecuted writers and
intellectuals
Coelho’s rebellious behavior led his parents to have
confined him to a psychiatric hospital in Rio de Janeiro
where he received shock treatment. escaped – and
was returned – three times.
With the arrival of the 1960s, Coelho launched
vigorously to the counterculture of drugs and
Rock And Roll.
At 20 he fulfilled his ambition to be a writer.
and worked as a playwright, theater director,
journalist and composer of Brazilian pop music
stars like Elis Regina and Raul Seixas.
In 1974, says Coelho, “my life collapsed.”
That year he was arrested three times, the first time
like an innocent bystander in a bank robbery, the second
time to speak out against the establishment in a
pop concert. After being released by the police, he was
arrested for the third time by paramilitaries who tortured
him for a week.
In the late 1970s, his life returned to normal.
and became artistic director of CBS in Brazil.
But in 1979 he was suddenly fired without explanation.
and spent the next 2 years knocking on doors
trying to get back into the music industry.
In 1981 he decided to try his luck in Europe and there
I met a member of an obscure Catholic sect who studies
the language of symbols: RAM or Regnus Agnus Mundi. Hey
progressed within the sect and eventually became a
Magician.
In 1986, on the instructions of his mentor within RAM,
Coelho undertook the pilgrimage to Santiago di
Compostela in Spain.
The following year he published La peregrinación, a
account of his experiences on the ‘Camino de Santiago’.
In 1988 he wrote the book that would make him a
international celebrity, The Alchemist, a story about
follow your own destiny and be open to the universe
of signs and symbols.
The Alchemist became an instant bestseller and has
since then it has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide.
Coelho’s eight novels have sold more than 37 million copies
in 56 languages and have been published in 140
countries.
In 1998, the French magazine ‘Lire’ included Coelho as
the second best-selling author worldwide.
Paulo Coelho has won more than 15 international awards for
his writings, including the coveted French award, the
Badge of Arts and Letters (1996). The critics have
praised her writing for its “symbolic language that
does not speak to our brain, but to our heart”.
In 1998 Paulo Coelho was received by the Pope at the
Vatican.
He has been designated to the United Nations as Special
Advisor of Spiritual and International Convergences
dialogues.
Coelho’s vision of happiness: “The most mediocre
in the world. I prefer to follow the idea of joy.”