Paulo Coelho, born in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, studied law and then traveled to South America, Europe, and North Africa. Upon returning to Brazil, he published plays and provocative rock songs, which led to him being imprisoned three times during the military junta of the 1970s. He is the editor of an underground magazine, a music magazine, and served as the director of Polygram and CBS in Brazil. Starting in 1980, after losing his job, he studied for five years in an old Spanish order and completed the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In 2006, Paulo Coelho was awarded the Mexican literary prize "Las Pergolas.".