Un protagonista

There are many books, and many writers out there. The book industry has been evolving through time, and it is impossible to find just one protagonist connected to books along their history. To this post I decided to talk about one of the many important authors that there are, and which is J.K. Rowling. She isn't a old author, nor has made a great impact in the beginning of the production of books, but sure has, in modern times, been the reason why many youngsters read in a generation of technology and internet. J.K. Rowling is most famous for her sucessful books about Harry Potter and his adventures. One of the reasons why I chose her is also the fact that many aspects in the books are based on Portuguese costumes and habits, due to the fact that she was married with a portuguese man and lived for a short time in Portugal, my home country.

J. K. Rowling 

Joanne Rowling is a british novelist, philanthropist, film producer, television producer and screenwriter, best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series. She was born on the 31st of July, in 1965, in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. She lived in England and always took interest in studying languages, and after college she moved to Porto, in Portugal, to be a teacher of a foreign language. In Portugal she started to write the first chapters of Harry Potter, with many aspects based on this country's culture. For one, the uniforms worn by the students are the same as the portuguese students do use in college, and were especially inspired by the Universidade de Coimbra, one of the oldest institutions of education in Portugal. The Lello bookstore, in Porto, has a unusual staircase in its middle, that it's believed to have inspired the author to elaborate the Grand Staircase at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, known for changing its configuration without notice. Also the name of the founder of the house of Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin, was based on one of Portugal's most notorious rulers, António de Oliveira Salazar. This and many other aspects of the  books are based on the time she spent in Portugal, time in which she got married, had a child, was divorced, and saw the death of her mother. This period of extreme events was her most creative time, when she wrote most of the best-selling books. Her work has won multiple awards, and sold more than 500 million copies, actually becoming the best-selling book series in history, that have also been the basis for a film series, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was one of the producers.

She wrote 7 novels about Harry Potter, and approximatedly 18 more books, making a total of 25. In 2007 she was named has a "Person of the Year", by Time, taking into consideration the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans. In october of 2010, she was nominated the "Most Influential Woman in Britain" by leading magazine editors. The 2016 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £600 million, ranking her as the joint 197th richest person in the United Kingdom. Later on she has lost her billionaire status after giving away much of her earnings to charity, but remains one of the wealthiest people in the world. She is currently the United's Kingdom best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238 millions.