WOMEN OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC

With the institutionalization of the Republic, Portuguese women gained more civil
rights although not the equivalent political rights. Their civic and associative activism
did, however, undergo a dynamic development.

Bearing in mind all working women that started having a job during WWI, thus also
contributing to the emancipation of women, here are some of the most outstanding
female characters of the beginning of the Republic:

Adelaide Cabete (1867-1935), doctor, gynecologist, teacher and a great

feminist. She founded the Republican League of Portuguese Women and
the National Council of Portuguese Women and organised the First
Feminist and Education Congress; she was one of the manufacturers of
our flag.

Ana de Castro Osório (1872-1935), writer, in particular of child

literature, editor, educator, publicist, lecturer, defender of
republican ideals. She founded the Republican League of Portuguese
Women and was connected to other feminist movements. In her
view, speeches and acts she always defended that formal education
was the only way for women's liberation.

Angelina Vidal (1853-1917), teacher, journalist and propagandist of

workers’ rights, namely women’s rights, self-confessed republican
with public interventions of social nature.

Carolina Beatriz Ângelo (1877-1911), doctor (the first female surgeon

to operate at the S. José Hospital), was the first Portuguese female
voter, in 1911. She was a member of several feminist organisations and
director of the Feminist Propaganda Association.
Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcelos (1851-1925), novelist,
distinguished herself in teaching. She was the first woman to be
admitted as a professor at the Coimbra Faculty of Arts.

Emília de Sousa Costa (1877-1959), writer and defender of female

education. She contributed to the creation of a welfare scheme for
poor female students (Caixa de Auxílio a Raparigas Estudantes
Pobres), she lectured at the Central Tutory of Lisbon (Tutoria
Central de Lisboa), an institution for delinquent or abandoned
children and she was a member of the Central Council of the National Federation of
Friends of the Children.

Maria Veleda (1871-1955), ground school teacher, writer of children’s

books. She was a member of the Republican League of Portuguese
Women and of the Portuguese Group of Feminist Studies, being a
defender of women’s emancipation and political participation.

Virgínia Quaresma (1882-1973), journalist, distinguished herself

through her political and social reportings, namely in the
newspapers O Século and in A Capital, as well as in Brazil. She was
one of the first women to get a degree from the Faculty of Arts of
the Lisbon University. She was awarded the Order of St. James,
(Ordem de Santiago) for outstanding services to the country during
the Great War.

Women of the Portuguese Republic. [Em linha]. Disponível em

http://www.portugal2010.pt/fep10/wcmservlet/portugal2010/F-Emissoes_Filatelicas/2009_Emissao_Comemorativa/en/f.03.html.
[Consultado em 07/03/10]. [adaptado]

BE-ESOD
Centenário da República
Centenário da Comemoração do Dia Internacional da Mulher