The poet, essayist, and politician Antero de Quental was an active member of the Generation of 1870, which was responsible for the establishment of the literary movement known in Portugal as realism. He was a leader in the writers' group Questão Coimbrã, named for a polemic that took place throughout 1865 and 1866 in the form of newspaper and journal articles. At times militant in his politics, he is linked to the introduction of socialist thought in Portugal.

A descendant of one of the oldest families of the provincial captaincies on the island of São Miguel, Antero Tarquínio Quental was born in Ponta Delgada, Azores, on 18 April 1842. After he completed his primary education on his native island, he enrolled in law school at the University of Coimbra and quickly became a leader among his fellow students; he assumed the role of spokesman for those...