Wikipedia

Maria Barroso

For the Brazilian librarian, novelist and short story writer, see Maria Alice Barroso. For the Brazilian volleyball player, see Maria Isabel Barroso Salgado Alencar.
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Simões and the second or paternal family name is Barroso.

Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares, GCL (Fuseta, 2 May 1925 – Lisbon, 7 July 2015) was a Portuguese actress, teacher and political and social activist, having been one of the founders of the Socialist Party (PS), in Germany, in 1973.[2] As the wife of the 17th President of Portugal, Mário Soares, she was the first-lady of the country between 1986 and 1996.

Maria Barroso
GCL
Barroso in 2013
First Lady of Portugal
In role
9 March 1986 – 9 March 1996
PresidentMário Soares
Preceded byManuela Ramalho Eanes
Succeeded byMaria José Ritta
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
Elections: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983[1]
In office
3 June 1976 – 13 November 1980
In office
31 May 1983 – 4 November 1985
Personal details
Born
Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso

(1925-05-02)2 May 1925
Fuseta, First Portuguese Republic
Died7 July 2015(2015-07-07) (aged 90)
São Domingos de Benfica, Portugal
Resting placePrazeres Cemetery, Lisbon
Political partySocialist Party
SpouseMário Soares (1949–2015)
ChildrenJoão Barroso Soares
Isabel Barroso Soares
Alma materUniversity of Lisbon
OccupationPolitician
Actress
ProfessionTeacher

Family

edit

Barroso was the daughter of military Alfredo José Barroso (Alvor, 15 April 1887 - Campo Grande, Lisbon, 14 January 1970) and Maria da Encarnação Simões, born in Coimbra, they married in Alvor in 1912. She's the paternal granddaughter of José Barroso de Sousa and his wife Maria de Jesus Barrosa and the maternal granddaughter of Manuel dos Santos and his wife Maria da Rainha Santa.

She was the paternal aunt of the Alfredo Barroso and the maternal aunt of Mário Barroso, Eduardo Barroso and Graça Barroso.

Biography

edit

She came from a big family - she was the fifth of seven siblings - Maria de Jesus Barroso was there for the family's move, from Fuseta to Setúbal and, then, from Setúbal to Lisbon. Her father, an opposer to the dictatorship, was arrested in the Lisbon Penitentiary and was deported to the Azores, where he was jailed in the Angra do Heroísmo Fort. After her primary education, that she did in Setúbal and Lisbon, she attended the secondary schools of D. Filipa de Lencastre and Pedro Nunes.

In her adolescence she gained an interest for theater and the art of spoken poetry, what led her to attend the Course of Dramatic Art in the National Conservatory Theater School. She ended her studies in 1943. She was a director and teacher of Art of Saying in the Colégio Moderno, replacing Manuel Lereno.[3] Through the actor Assis Pacheco she enters the prestigious theater company Rey Colaço-Robles Monteiro, based in the D. Maria II National Theatre, replacing Maria Lalande. She debuted in 1944 in Aparências (Appearances), of Jacinto Benavente, directed by Palmira Bastos, and had prominent interpretation in Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe (Benilde or the Virgin Mother) of José Régio.[4] Circa 1946, after acting in Coimbra A Casa da Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba), of Federico García Lorca, she's prevented from remaining in that company by interference of PIDE.

While being an actress, Barroso continued her studies in the Faculty of Arts, Lisbon, where she would obtain a degree in Historical and Philosophical Sciences, in 1951. It was in college that she met Mário Soares, whom she would marry on 22 February 1949, by proxy (but registered at the 3rd Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon).[5] Soares was then jailed for political reasons. With Soares, Barroso two children, politician João Soares, born 1949, and psychologist Isabel Barroso Soares, born 1951, who manages the Colégio Moderno in Lisbon.[6]

After being stopped from working in theater, Barroso would also be forbidden by the government to be a teacher. She applied for an internship for admission to teach, not having been accepted in a public school, choosing to do an internship in Colégio Moderno, ran by her father-in-law João Soares. After two years, however, her license to teach in private schools would be revoked by the National Education Ministry. She would manage the family school and only after the Carnation Revolution would she, legally, act as its director.

She would return to acting, in Antígona (1965) in the Villaret Theater,[7] and in cinema, with the emergency of the Cinema Novo Português, acting in Paulo Soares da Rocha's movie, Mudar de Vida (To Change Life),[4] debuting in 1966. In the 70s and 80s she acted in Manoel de Oliveira's movies (1985 - Le Soulier de Satin, 1979 - Amor de Perdição, 1975 - Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe).

In 1968, Barroso accompanies her husband when he is deported to São Tomé, where she is again prevented from teaching. Later, in the 70s, when the Marcello Caetano government allows Soares to exile in Paris, Barroso returns to Portugal, continuing to manage the family school.

In 1969, Barroso ran as a deputy for the CEUD (Electoral Commission of Democratic Unity), led by Mário Soares, and where Catholics and monarchists involved in the democratic opposition tot he regime would insert themselves. In 1973, she participated in the III Congress of Democratic Oopposition, in Aveiro, being the only women to intervene in the opening session.

She was one of the seven people to vote against the transformation of the Portuguese Socialist Action, against the official stand of Mário Soares.[8]

 
Mário Soares and Maria Barroso in Porto's Bishop's funeral, D. António Ferreira Gomes, in 1989

After the Carnation Revolution, Barroso was elected as a deputy of the Assembly of the Republic, successively, for Santarém, Porto, and Faro, in the legislatures started in 1976, 1979, 1980 and 1983.

Although not as politically involved as her husband, Maria Barroso was a founding member of the Socialist Party in Bad Münstereifel, Germany in 1973.

In 1986, Soares is elected President of the Republic and Barroso takes on the role of First Lady of Portugal (1986- 1996). As the First Lady, her intervention was directed towards the defense of the family sense and fighting against social exclusion and all forms of violence, participating in numerous initiatives in Portugal and other Portuguese speaking countries. In 1990, she created the Mozambique Emergency movement, granting, in the following year, the scripture of the Association for the Study and Prevention of Violence. In 1995, she presided over the opening of the cycle of realizations for the International Year of Fighting against racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and social exclusion.

After leaving the Belém Palace, in 1997, she became the president of the Portuguese Red Cross, position she held until 2003. She was also a founding partner and president of the Administration Council of ONGD, since 1994 until her death, and also presided over the Aristides Sousa Mendes Foundation.

She was awarded a Honoris Causa doctorate by the Lesley University[9] (23 May 1994), by the University of Aveiro (16 December 1996),[10] by the University of Lisbon (3 November 1999) and by the Universidade Lusófona in 2012. She was an honorary professor of the Society of International Studies of Madrid. And also received a Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty on 7 March 1997.[11]

She was a member of the Portuguese National Theater Company and one of the most famous theater and cinema actresses in Portugal. In April 2000 she read the poetry of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at the United Nations in New York in homage to Aristides Sousa Mendes.[12] She was involved in activities aimed at supporting the areas of culture, education and family, childhood, social solidarity, female dimension, health, the integration of the disabled and the prevention of violence.[6]

Illness and death

edit

On 25 June 2015, Maria Barroso came under medical care at Lisbon’s Red Cross Hospital after falling at home. She was transported to the hospital by her nephew Eduardo Barroso, a well-known hepato-biliary surgeon, walking in by her own foot. An initial CT scan revealed nothing serious; however, her condition worsened during the subsequent hours, and new exams revealed an extensive intracranial hemorrhage. She entered a deep coma, and Eduardo Barroso classified the situation as "critical" and "most likely irreversible".[13] She died in the morning of 7 July 2015.[14]

Honours and awards

edit

Honours

edit

National honours

edit

Foreign honours

edit

Awards

edit
  • Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Aveiro
  • Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Lisbon
  • Doctor Honoris Causa by Lesley College, Boston
  • Honorary Professor of the Society of International Studies, Madrid
  • Award "Impegno Per La Pace" of the Association Insieme per la Pace, Rome
  • Award "Beca" by the Colégio Mayor Zurbaran, Madrid
  • Gold Medal for Distinct Service from the League of Portuguese Firemen
  • Medal of Solidarity from CNAF
  • Silver Medal of the Alcuin Award
  • Gold Medal from FERLAP
  • Gold Medal from the City of Ovar
  • Gold Medal from the City of Olhão
  • Gold Medal from the City of Faro
  • Personality of the Year 1998 in the area of solidarity by the Magazine Revista Gente e Viagem
  • Algarvia (lady from the Algarve region) of the Year 1997 by the Association of the Algarve’s Regional Press
  • Most Elegant Woman of the Year 1998 – Magazine Revista VIP
  • Neckband of the International Academy of Portuguese Culture
  • “One in ten women of the year 1999” Prize – Brazil
  • D. Antónia Ferreira Prize
  • Prestige Prize
  • “Manus Cais” Trophy
  • “Lonely Life” Prize – Radio Central FM, Leiria

References

edit
  1. ^ Portuguese National Assembly
  2. ^ "Maria Barroso, a atriz, ativista e companheira de vida de Mário Soares". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  3. ^ Dias, Patrícia Costa (2011). A vida com um sorriso: histórias, experiências, gargalhadas, reflexões de Isabel Wolmar. Lisboa: Ésquilo. p. 60. ISBN 978-989-8092-97-7.
  4. ^ a b Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de (2015-07-07). "Faleceu Maria Barroso, a atriz, ativista e companheira de vida de Mário Soares". Faleceu Maria Barroso, a atriz, ativista e companheira de vida de Mário Soares (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  5. ^ Wilson, H.W. (1976). Current biography yearbook. H. W. Wilson Co. p. 393. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  6. ^ a b Biography: Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares. prodignitate.pt. Curriculum of Maria Barroso, retrieved 7 July 2015
  7. ^ "06558.096.19453". casacomum.org. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  8. ^ Osório, Luís (2011-06-06). "O dia em que Maria Barroso votou contra Mário Soares". Jornal SOL (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  9. ^ "Graduating Students | Lesley University". lesley.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  10. ^ Aveiro, Universidade de. "Honoris Causa". Universidade de Aveiro (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  11. ^ "ENTIDADES NACIONAIS AGRACIADAS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas". www.ordens.presidencia.pt. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  12. ^ En hommage à Aristides de Sousa Mendes Archived 2015-07-08 at the Wayback Machine. aristidesdesousamendes.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015
  13. ^ Maria Barroso está em coma profundo. Sobrinho diz que estado é "irreversível". dn.pt. Retrieved 3 June 2023
  14. ^ Former First Lady dies. theportugalnews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "list of Maria's honours" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  16. ^ "Images". cadenaser00.epimg.net. 2015.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maria_Barroso&oldid=1254941947"