Paulo Coelho

In less than twenty years, the work of Paulo Coelho has appealed to millions of readers across the world. In his novels, the author of the Alchemist develops themes from his own apprenticeship and restores a complex spirituality in simple terms and very varied forms. Paulo Coelho committed himself to supporting the disadvantaged in Brazil, through a foundation he created, and is involved in a number of humanitarian programmes in the world, notably for Unesco.

"For a long time, alchemists have tried to transform lead into gold. Today it's a question of transforming the sun's rays into electric energy."