Carlos Fradique Mendes is a fictional Portuguese adventurer. He was a youthful invention of the 19th century Portuguese realist novelist Eça de Queiroz and his literary allies (who included Ramalho Ortigão

Ramalho Ortigão

José Duarte Ramalho Ortigão was a Portuguese writer of the late 19th century and early 20th century. He spent his early years with his maternal grandmother in Oporto....

). Fradique Mendes made an early appearance in print in the novel O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra ("The Mystery of the Sintra Road", 1870), written jointly by Eça and Ortigão. He attained full elaboration in the lengthy Correspondência de Fradique Mendes ("Correspondence of Fradique Mendes"), published after Eça's death in 1900. This was followed by a collection of further posthumous texts and drafts, Cartas inéditas de Fradique Mendes e mais páginas esquecidas ("Unpublished letters of Fradique Mendes and other forgotten pages").

Recently Fradique Mendes has come to life again in a prize-winning novel by the Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa

José Eduardo Agualusa

José Eduardo Agualusa is an Angolan journalist and writer. He studied agronomy and silviculture in Lisbon, Portugal. He currently spends most of his time in Portugal, Angola and Brazil, working as a writer and journalist. His books have been translated into twenty languages...

, Nação Crioula: a correspondência secreta de Fradique Mendes ("Creole Nation: the secret correspondence of Fradique Mendes").