Germano Almeida was born on the island of Boa Vista, Cabo Verde, in 1945. At the age of eighteen, he left Boa Vista to study law at the Universidade Clássica de Lisboa. He published his first stories in Revista Ponto & Vírgula under the pseudonyn Romualdo Cruz.
His first novel, The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo, was published in 1989 and later translated into English by Sheila Faria Glaser for New Directions. The novel marked Almeida’s break with the traditional concerns of Cabo Verdean literature, such as hunger, migration, and the dilemma of staying in Cabo Verde or leaving. His work—some nine books to date—has been published in Brazil, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States. In 2018, he received the Prémio Camões, the most important prize for Portuguese-language writers. Since 1979, Almeida has lived in São Vicente, where he practices law.
