Pedro Homem de Melo (1904-1984) was a Portuguese poet and folklorist of provincial noble ancestry who earned most of his living as a schoolteacher in Oporto. Between 1934 and 1983 he published 29 poetry books (including two anthologies) and three monographs on folkdances and folksongs (mainly from Northwest Portugal). Some of his poems were adapted to fados recorded by Amália Rodrigues. Together with this, the television programmes he conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s have made his name widely known until nowadays. His life and work, however, have hardly been studied as yet. This is precisely the purpose of this project, and writing a biographical monograph appears to us as the most fruitful way to achieve it. The biographical genre naturally demands a focus on the reconstruction of a life story, but it also involves an in-depth knowledge of its social, cultural and institutional settings. By writing a biographical monograph on Homem de Melo, we aspire not only to illuminate his life and work, but also to bring new light to some features of Portuguese society during his lifetime.