Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author born in 1947. He had a tumultuous early life, being sent to an asylum multiple times as a teenager and later tortured by the ruling militia for subversive activities. He held various jobs like writing lyrics, acting, and journalism before fully devoting himself to writing. A pivotal moment was walking the 500 mile Road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain at age 39, which inspired his breakthrough novel The Alchemist published in 1987. The Alchemist went on to sell over 150 million copies worldwide and be translated into 80 languages, making Coelho the best selling Portuguese author of all time.

1. Paulo Coelho
Michael Edmondson, Ph.D.

2. 1947 August 24 born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1963-1967 Sent to asylum three times (16-20
years of age) and released in 1967
1967-1968 went to law school but dropped out
to become a hippy traveling through South
America, North Africa, Mexico and Europe

3. Late 1960s-1970s - wrote lyrics for Raul Seixas,
the Brazilian rock star and other artists
1974 – arrested for “subversive” activities by
the ruling militia (bundled into a car, taken to a
secret headquarters, and tortured with electric
shock to his genitals) Joined Alternative
Society, an organization that defended the
individual’s right to free expression and began
publishing a series of comic strips calling for
more freedom.

4. 1970s-1980s – worked as an actor, journalist,
and theatre director before pursuing his writing
career
Hoping for some normalcy he went to work for
Polygram record company. Met his first wife,
moved to London in 1977, but Coelho was
unhappy and wanted to write so he went back
to Brazil and they divorced. He married twice
more before settling down with an old friend,
Christina Oiticica . "She is my fourth wife," he
says, "and last."

5. 1982 – published his first book, Hell Archives – failure
In 1982, Coelho and Oiticica visited Germany. While
touring the concentration camp at Dachau, Coelho
had a vision. He says a man appeared to him. A few
weeks later, Coelho ran into the ghostly man again at a
cafe in Amsterdam. "You must close the circle," the
man said crypto-mystically. "You will see the image of
God in everything from now on." The man instructed
Coelho to rediscover Catholicism and to take the
pilgrim's walk on the road to Santiago, between
France and Spain.

6. 1986 – at 39 years of age walked the 500 mile
Road of Santiago de Compostela in
northwestern Spain – the turning point in his
life

7. 1982 – published his first book, Hell Archives –
failure
1987 – at 40 years of age published The
Alchemist through a small Brazilian publishing
house who made an initial print run of 900
copies and decided not to reprint. He found a
bigger publishing house, and with the
publication of his next book Brida, The
Alchemist became a Brazilian bestseller.

8. Early 2000s – upended the publishing industry
by pirating his own work and made it available
online in countries where it was not easily
found, using the argument that ideas should be
disseminated free.
Coelho has published 30 books. Sold more
than 150 million books in over 150 countries
and his works have been translated into 80
languages. He is the all time best selling
Portuguese language author.