Paulo Coelho

Michael Edmondson, Ph.D.

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

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.

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."

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.

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

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.

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.