Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author born in 1947 known for writing The Alchemist. He wanted to be a writer as a teenager but his parents did not understand him and had him institutionalized multiple times. As a young adult, he traveled extensively but was not happy. After being arrested by the Brazilian government, he had a spiritual awakening on the Road of Santiago de Compostela. He is now the bestselling Portuguese author and a practicing Catholic.