José Maria de Eça de Queiroz (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ mɐˈɾiɐ d(ɨ) ˈɛsɐ d(ɨ) kɐjˈɾɔʃ]; 25 November 1845 – 16 August 1900) is generally considered to have been the greatest Portuguese writer in the realist style. Zola considered him to be far greater than Flaubert. In the London Observer, Jonathan Keates ranked him alongside Dickens, Balzac and Tolstoy.