>Ken Gallager at 10:17, 19 June 2021

2021-06-19T10:17:28Z

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{{short description|Konkani novelist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}}
'''Caridade Damaciano Fernandes''' (1904 – 7 October 1948) was a prolific [[Konkani language|Konkani-language]] novelist and a pioneer of prose fiction writing in that language. He has been called "the father of Konkani novels".<ref name="NT">{{Cite web|last=Desk|first=N. T.|date=2019-10-27|title=DKA remembers the father of Konkani novels|url=https://www.navhindtimes.in/2019/10/27/magazines/buzz/dka-remembers-the-father-of-konkani-novels/|access-date=2021-01-11|website=The Navhind Times|language=en-US}}</ref> Caridade Damacian died on October 7, 1948, but yet his legacy is still remembered and celebrated.<ref name="Felix">{{Cite journal|last=D'Cruz|first=Felix|date=January-March 2019|title=Caridade Damaciano Fernandes Taka 'Romansincho Pai' Mhunn Pachartale. Translated by Sonia Do Rosario Gomes.|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682654578654475/permalink/2343746372545289/|journal=Goycho Pormoll|volume=|pages=67 onwards|via=}}</ref>

== Life ==
Caridade Damacian was the only child of Manuel Fernandes (from [[Maina, Goa]]) and Maria M Mascarenhas (from [[Corjuem]]). His birth-date is unknown.<ref name="Felix" />

He was born in humble settings, which nonetheless did not deter him from following his literary pursuits. He was from the Maina ward of Aldona, and was the son of a farmer.<ref name="Felix" /> His mother was a cook, who went to homes offering her services at cooking and making Goan sweets.<ref name="Felix" /> He became a seaman, married Maria Luisa de Souza of [[Parra]], and they had no children. He lived for most of his adult life in [[Bombay]], and rose to literary fame in the 1930s.<ref name="Felix" />

Their own home was in front of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Home for the Aged, and they were childless.<ref name="Felix" /> Their original home has been sold and a new one taken its place.<ref name="Felix" />

When he died, he was just 44 years of age, and was buried in the Aldona cemetery. In that short time, he wrote over a hundred ''romans'', as the Konkani action novel has been called.<ref name="Felix" />

Caridade Damacian died on October 7, 1948, but his legacy is still remembered and celebrated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Remembering son of soil|url=https://www.thegoan.net//remembering-son-of-soil/54560.html|access-date=2021-01-11|website=The Goan EveryDay|language=en}}</ref>

After Caridade Damacian's death, his wife worked as a cook in people's homes to earn a living.<ref name="Felix" />

==Works==

Caridade Damaciano Fernandes' first book was ''Armida'', published in 1931. For some years, he wrote and published a small book every week via the [[Victoria Printing Press]] in the city then called [[Bombay]]. The book was brought out each Wednesday, and priced one anna<ref name="Felix" /> (or, six paisa), one-sixteenth fraction of a rupee. Brazinho Soares Kalafurkar, a [[Santa Cruz, Goa|Santa Cruz]], [[Goa]], based avid collector of the Konkani printed word, has said that Fernandes wrote and (probably self-published) around 101 ''romans'' novels.<ref name="Felix" /> Many of his novels and novellas were around thirty pages thick.<ref name=":0">Paul Fernandes, 'A Forgotten Konkani Novellist', ''Sunday Times of India'' (Goa Edition) (22 December 2019), p. 2.</ref> Their content focused on gripping tales of adventure and romance, featuring stereotyped characters, love-scenes, and endings characterized by poetic justice.<ref name=":1">ManoharRai SarDessai, ''A History of Konkani Literature: From 1500 to 1992'' (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2000), p. 228.</ref>

Caridade Damacian's last book was ''Goenchem Colvont'' ('the Goan whore'), written in the year of his passing in 1947, and printed by the Mapusa-based Tipografia Laxmi.

His most noted novels are ''Julus Patxai'', ''Armida'', ''Ankvaricho Cheddo'', ''Rio Rita'', and ''La Beatrice''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

It is believed that after writing his work, he would consult with the three medical-doctor Elvino de Souza brothers, also from the village of Aldona:<ref name="Felix" /> Carlos (b. 1901), the dentist Mousinho (b. 1908), and surgeon Olinto ORL (b. 1909). They were contemporaries of Caridade (''Caru''). Olinto migrated to Hong Kong in 1929 when he was 20.

Caridade Damacian was also the editor of ''The Emigrant'', an English-language weekly published in Bombay.<ref name="NT" /> D'Lima however identifies ''The Emigrant'' as being a "Konkani-English weekly" published by E.C. Carvalho.<ref name="Felix" />

===Other contributions===
Caridade Damacian is also known to have composed diverse songs for the plays staged by village youth for the Christmas season, usually organised between December 26 to January 6.<ref name="Felix" />

He is credited with having started the ''Bhurgeanchem Fest'' (Feast for Children) at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, in honour of [[St Luis Gonzaga]], near his home at his ward. He composed a hymn which is still sung by people on the occasion.<ref name="Felix" />

==Achievements and legacy==
It was announced in 2019 that Caridade Damacian would have a street named after him in [[Aldona]].<ref>'[https://www.navhindtimes.in/aldona-vp-to-hold-special-gram-sabha-on-sagarmala-project/ Aldona VP to hold special gram sabha on Sagarmala project]', ''[[The Navhind Times]]'' (21 October 2019).</ref>

At a function held in October 2019, he was termed a "novelist, journalist, song composer and celebrated literary son of Goa" and also called the "Romansincho Bapui" (Father of Konkani Novels).<ref name="NT" /> This function was held in the parish hall of his village of [[Aldona]] in Goa.<ref name="NT" />

Caridade Damacian has been called one of the "gems" of [[Aldona]], a [[North Goa]] village from the sub-district of [[Bardez]], which itself became known as the village of priests, nuns and ''tiatrists'' (Konkani dramatists). [[Alfred Rose (singer)|Alfred Rose]], the prominent singer and Konkani culture protagonist, also from Aldona, called Fernandes the ''Romansincho Pai'' (The Father of the Konkani ''Romans'' Novels).<ref name="Felix" />

He was known to be a creative and prolific writer. D'Cruz quotes the noted ''Indian Express'' former editor Frank Moraes as saying

<blockquote>He has only to pick a page and a pen and ideas from his imaginative mind flow to his pen in a cascade.<ref name="Felix" /></blockquote>

==External links==
*[https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682654578654475/permalink/2343746372545289/ Translation of a magazine cover story on the author, written by Felix D'Cruz, translated by Sonia do Rosario Gomes]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Caridade Damaciano}}
[[Category:Writers from Goa]]
[[Category:Konkani-language writers]]
[[Category:Konkani people]]
[[Category:Indian male writers]]
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]

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Caridade Damaciano Fernandes - Revision history

>Ken Gallager at 10:17, 19 June 2021