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{{Short description|Indian writer and musician (1914–1994)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Reginald Fernandes
| image = Reginald Fernandes (Reginaldo Fernandes).jpg
| caption = Fernandes during his youth
| birth_name = Reginaldo Fernandes
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|6|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Siolim]], [[Goa]], [[Portuguese India]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Writer|musician}}
| years_active = 1930s–1994
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|11|13|1914|6|14|df=y}}
| death_place =
}}

'''Reginaldo''' "'''Reginald'''" '''Fernandes''' (14 June 1914 – 13 November 1994) was an Indian writer, musician and cultural figure active in [[Music of Goa|Goan Konkani music]]. He was known for having written a vast number of [[Konkani language|Konkani]] ''romans'' novels, over a hundred in number. He has been called the "King of Konkani Fiction".<ref name="Venita">{{Cite web|url=https://www.navhindtimes.in/2017/06/14/magazines/buzz/the-king-of-konkani-fiction/|title=The King of Konkani Fiction|last=Desk|first=N. T.|date=2017-06-13|website=The Navhind Times|language=en-US|access-date=2021-01-13}}</ref>

==Career==
Fernandes was active for many decades in the world of the Konkani ''romans'', his career spanning over six decades. His first novel was published in 1932, and the last one, called ''Perdida'', made it to the stands in 1994.<ref name="ToI">{{Cite web|agency=TNN|date=Jun 14, 2016|title=Reginaldo Fernandes: A votary of Konkani {{!}} Goa News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Reginaldo-Fernandes-A-votary-of-Konkani/articleshow/52737582.cms|access-date=2021-01-13|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref>
His first novel was ''Lindorf''.

He sold up to 5000 copies of his books, according to news reports, and some were reprinted; yet "the pundits of the Konkani language did not find any merit in his literature, probably because it was written in the Roman script."<ref name="ToI" />

Fernandes wrote fiction and romance, with an "imaginative approach" toe "effective descriptions of the situation".<ref name="Venita" /> "Many readers would anxiously wait until his next book would be out in the market.<ref name="Venita" /> There were many instances where he books became the best-sellers," says an article in ''The Navhind Times''.<ref name="Venita" />

He was a writer, and a versatile musician trained in the trumpet and violin.<ref name="Venita" /> Reginald led his own bad, and would perform at weddings, parties, hotels, feasts and ''tiatr'' (Konkani theatre performances).<ref name="Venita" /> He has also performed out of India, and was an artiste at the [[All India Radio]].<ref name="Venita" />

His band was called ''Reggie and his Melodians''.Before that, he also was a key performer in bands such as ''Nellie's Dance Band'', ''Vincente Carmine and his Orchestra'', ''Mikey and Johnie's Orchestra'', and ''Alfred Rose's Rose Buds'', besides others. Fernandes is also known to have contributed to the music of the Bollywood film industry.<ref name="ToI" />

==Personal life==
Fernandes was born on 14 June 1914, in the village of [[Siolim]], and studied at the [[parochial school]] at Siolim village. He later moved to [[Bombay]]. He began writing in 1932, while he was employed at the band of a Maharaja's palace in what today is [[Gujarat]]. He also played at the palace of the palace of the [[Maharaja of Mysore]].

His full name was Reginaldo Basil Fernandes, and his parents were the clarinet player Antonio Caridade Fernandes and Carmelina. He lived at Siolim's ''Aframento Vaddi'', a local believed to have been immortalised in the Goa traditional ''mando'' song-form as ''Siole dongra sokolu...'' (Beneath the hills of Siolim), according to the writer Domnic Fernandes, writing in 2009.

Fernandes had to become the breadwinner of the family at an early age, after his father died of a paralytic stroke. He left for Bombay by the coastal steam-ship, and began writing in 1932, to overcome homesickness, according to Domnic Fernandes.

Fernandes died in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web|last=href="https://www.goanconnection.com/cb-profile/10-francis">Francis|title=Goan Novelist Late Mr. Reginald Fernandes|url=https://www.goanconnection.com/blogs/goan-personalities/goan-novelist-late-mr-reginald-fernandes|access-date=2021-01-19|website=Goan Connection|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Claim on large body of work==
There is some disagreement on how many novels and novellas Fernandes actually wrote, the number ranging from more than a hundred to 190. During his 101st birth centenary celebrations in June 2015, it was noted that he had written some 190 Konkani novels, besides being an accomplished musician, lyricist and playwright.<ref name="Herald">{{Cite web|title=Siolkars remember Reginald Fernandes|url=https://www.heraldgoa.in/Review/Voice-Of-Tiatr/Siolkars-remember-Reginald-Fernandes/89974|access-date=2021-01-13|website=oHeraldo}}</ref>

==Impact and response==
According to ''The Times of India'' though he "wrote extensively in Romi Konkani [but]...is virtually unknown to the younger generation as little effort was made to recognise him and his works".<ref name="ToI" /> The Kuwait Goan Association honoured him for his contribution to the Konkani language, while shortly before his death he was bestowed with the Goa State Cultural Award for 1992–93.

Dale Luis Menezes has argued:

<blockquote>Reginald Fernandes’ writing career spans almost 40 years. This period that stretched around 1955-1992, Fernandes wrote more than 120 novels or what in Concanim came to be known as ''romans'' or ''romaxeo'' (pl.). The Concanim ‘romans’ is not adequately studied, neither in the history of Konknni literature nor in the history of Goan literature. Fernandes’ writings give the impression of pulp on first glance: they were printed on cheap paper, the books were pocket-sized, the plots were formulaic and revolved around love stories, crimes, and magic realism, and the language used had a touch of the dramatic in it. Perhaps this is the reason why dominant canons of Konkani and Goan literature never seriously considered the writings of Fernandes – or indeed other writers in the genre of ‘romans’ – as legitimately constituting literature.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reginald Fernandes Archives|url=http://alzulaijgoa.com/tag/reginald-fernandes/|website=The Al-Zulaij Collective|date=16 October 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>

==Tributes==

Venita Gomes, writing in ''[[The Navhind Times]]'' ''Buzz'' has stated:

<blockquote>One of Goa’s finest and prolific Roman Konkani writers, popularly known as ''Romanxincho Patxai'' (King of Fiction), Reginald Fernandes, has written over 200 novels creating a lasting impression on the minds of innumerable readers.<ref name="Venita" /></blockquote>

==Related trivia==
{{Prose|date=August 2023}}
* Reginald Fernandes hailed from the village of Siolim in Goa, where his work and life is often remembered in recent times, especially during his anniversaries.
* He is known for his violin, and owned a trumpet autographed by the noted Jazz musician [[Louis Armstrong]].<ref name="Herald" />
* During recent commemorative events of his life, a little table where he wrote most of his many ''romanses'' was also sometimes displayed.<ref name="Herald" />
* Reginald is credited with playing his "golden trumpet" for the band ''Rose Buds'' run by the noted Konkani singer and composer [[Alfred Rose (singer)|Alfred Rose]].<ref name="Herald" />
* Siolim and its environs has a group called ''The Friends of Reginald''.<ref name="Herald" />
* Many books authored by Goans are lost to time and poor protection. But [[Brazinho Soares]], a collector of Konkani books published from many of the past decades, has at least 96 out-of-print potboilers and other memorabilia connected with Reginald, as of June 2015.<ref name="Herald" />
* Reginald would write novels with their titles named in subsequent alphabetical order, from A-to-Z, according to former president of the [[Dalgado Konknni Akademi]], [[Tomazinho Cardozo]].<ref name="Venita" />
* As a lyricist, Fernandes contributed to some memorable Konkani songs, both aired on the ''Emissora de Goa'' Portuguese-run radio station, as well as the ''All India Radio'', which has operated in Goa after 1961. His songs were sung by Allen Costa, Ansu Rodrigues, Georgina Jacques and Johny Sylvester, who were permanent artistes of the ''Emissora de Goa'' radio station.<ref name="ToI" />
* He is known to have composed solos, duets, trios, mandos and dulpods, the last two being traditional Goan songs. His most popular is the farewell Konkani evergreen hit ''Adeus Korchea Vellar'' (''Now is the Time to Say Goodbye'').<ref name="ToI" />
* Reginal Fernandes is credited with having penned some 100 songs set them to music. He wrote and presented many great ''tiatrs''' (traditional Konkani songs) with the greats of the Konkani stage.<ref name="ToI" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Reginald}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:People from North Goa district]]
[[Category:Writers from Goa]]

Reginald Fernandes - Revision history

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