MANUEL TEIXEIRA-GOMES (1860-1941) spent his youth as 'the dandy, the cynic, the rake' of his story 'The Gypsy'. He represented Portugal in London after the republican revolution of 1910 and negotiated Portugal's entry into World War I. After a spell in prison he returned to diplomacy in Madrid and London. In 1923 he was elected President of Portugal, resigning after two years. He went into voluntary exile in 1926 when the fascists took power, moving in 1931 to Bougie, North Africa, where he wrote Novelas Eróticas.