Author : Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho was born in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was a rebellious youth and had been sent to a mental institution thrice during his adolescence. Years later, he was imprisoned for alleged subversive activities against the dictatorial government. In 1986, he went on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and published The Pilgrimage in the following year. It became a bestseller in Brazil. In 1988, his novel The Alchemist took the world by storm. He was regarded as one of the Latin American authors who could rival Gabriel García Márquez in terms of readership and popularity.