Andrée Crabbé, his wife. Clara Crabbé Rocha, his daughter. Torga's family, their emotional lap, their intellectual bosom. He married his lifelong partner on 27 July 1940, until the end of days. His confidant in his thoughts and sharing of literary experiences, his travel companion. He returned to the house in São Martinho de Anta with her after his parents died. The house took on another meaning without ever ceasing to be the writer’s cradle and bed. The same house that is now open thanks to the donation of Clara Crabbé Rocha, who is dedicated to studying her father's work, the man and the writer, his places and the immensity of his world. The house has been restored, preserved and prepared for public visits as a museum.

Andrée Crabbé Rocha (1917-2003)

Andrée Crabbé graduated in Romance Philology from the Free University of Brussels, where she was a student of Vitorino Nemésio. In 1938, she attended the Holiday Course at the University of Coimbra, and met Torga at Nemésio's house. She completed her PhD in 1944, with a thesis dedicated to the theatre of Almeida Garrett, at the University of Lisbon, where she began teaching duties. Fired in 1947 for political reasons, she was prevented from teaching in the public education system for more than 20 years, during which time she carried out extensive research work dedicated to Portuguese literature. She began teaching again at the University of Lisbon in 1970, later moving to the University of Coimbra, where she taught until 1986. Some of the most noteworthy of her works are A Epistolografia em Portugal, Garcia de Resende e o Cancioneiro Geral and Temas da Literatura Portuguesa. She was awarded the National Order of Merit in 1979, in France, and the President of the Republic, Mário Soares, awarded her the Order of Infante Dom Henrique in 1986.

Fotografia de Andrée Crabbé Rocha em Veneza, Itália

She was at her best when surrounded by students. Colloquial and didactic in nature, she knew how to communicate within the boundaries of the collective forum in which she felt truly fulfilled. Inventive, she designed her lessons not only with knowledge, but with the grace of fantasy. And she turned each class into a pedagogical adventure that fascinated and stimulated her disciples.
A Criação do Mundo

Clara Crabbé Rocha (1955)

The daughter of Miguel Torga and André Crabbé dedicated her life to the study of literature. She completed her PhD at the University of Coimbra, in 1985, with a thesis entitled Revistas Literárias do Século XX em Portugal. She taught at Nova University, Lisbon, dedicating a significant part of her studies to autobiographical literature, an area in which works such as O Espaço Autobiographical em Miguel Torga and Máscaras de Narciso stand out. Estudos sobre a Literatura Autobiográfica em Portugal, or on 20th century Portuguese poetry, the most noteworthy of which is the acclaimed work O Cachimbo de António Nobre e Outros Ensaios. She worked as a guest professor at the Sorbonne in 2004. In 1987, she was awarded the Order of Infante Dom Henrique by the President of the Republic, Mário Soares. In 2011, she published the anthology A Caneta que Escreve e a que Prescreve with the assistance of Teresa Jorge Ferreira.

Clara Rocha was born on 03 October 1955 in Coimbra. Torga wrote a poem that day.

Coimbra, 3 de outubro de 1955.

Nascimento

Nascem os homens como deuses pobres:
Nus e de um ventre que desesperou
De os guardar
Sagrados e secretos no seu lago.
Nascem disformes, sem nenhum afago
Da raiva desabrida que os expulsa
E das mãos aterradas que os recebem.
Bebem
O ar do mundo aos gritos.
Olham sem ver, e são
Surdos e transitórios mitos
Da nossa devoção.

Diário VII