José de Arriaga was born in the city of Horta (Azores), in 1848, into an aristocratic family descended from Flemish, French and Basque stock, settled on the island of Faial over several generations. His parents lived comfortably, being owners of extensive entailed estates (see “Os Últimos Vínculos Arriaga Brum da Silveira e o Herdeiro Manuel de Arriaga”, in O Tempo de Manuel de Arriaga, 2004, p. 156).

In 1861, José de Arriaga, then thirteen years old, moved to Coimbra with his student brother Manuel. Being eight years younger, he would start with preliminary studies before entering the Faculty of Law, in 1864, and finishing his course in 1869. In Coimbra in the 1860s the student community was discovering new cultural and political concerns which were behind activities with a large impact on pubic opinion, such as the student protests, organized in a secret society (the Sociedade do Raio [Thunderbolt Society]), in the university’s historic sala dos Capelos, against the orders of the Rector (1862), and the famous Questão Coimbrã (1865), a dispute over the status of Romanticism. It was in this atmosphere that José de Arriaga spent his adolescence and youth, under the tutelage of his older brother. Furthermore, Republican societies were mobilizing many students, such as Antero de Quental, José Falcão, Emídio Garcia, Teófilo Braga, Eça de Queiroz, Manuel de Arriaga, amongst others (see O Republicanismo em Portugal da Formação ao 5 de Outubro de 1910, vol. 1, 1991, p. 25). It was in this environment that José de Arriaga passed his adolescence and youth, under the guardianship of his older brother.

It seems likely that he was an early supporter of Republicanism, although his name does not appear to be linked to any type of activism, as was the case with his brother Manuel. After finishing university, he followed a career as a keeper of land registries, being appointed successively to Armamar, Resende, Benavente, Moura, and finally Reguengos, though he never took up office there, being relieved of the position. That is all we know, and there are no more precise details about his early life.

We come across him again only after the foundation of the Republic, in 1910. He then gained a position in the National Library, where he remained for some time, until, “affected by severe neurasthenia”, he emigrated to Brazil, “where he endured great privations”, according to the entry devoted to him in the Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira. According to the same source, he returned to Portugal at an unspecified point, taking a position in the Recolhimento das Merceeiras [Grocers’ Hospital], a charitable foundation for the impoverished elderly. Here he met up once again with his brother, Manuel. He died in 1921.

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