D. Catarina Micaela de Sousa César e Lencastre (29 September 1749 — 4 January 1824) was a Portuguese noblewoman, and a poet and playwright. While a celebrated author during her lifetime, most of her work remains unpublished.

Biography

D. Catarina was born in Guimarães on 29 September 1749 — the Feast of Saint Michael, the reason why her second given name was ''Micaela'' — the daughter of Francisco Filipe de Sousa da Silva Alcoforado (''

fidalgo ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some (important family)"—is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility that refers to a ...

'' of the Royal Household, Lord of Vila Pouca, Familiar of the

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), and his wife, D. Rosa Maria Viterbo de Lencastre (daughter of the 3rd Viscounts of Asseca). She was married by proxy on 31 August 1767 to Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, at the time the Captain-General and Governor of Mato Grosso, in

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. When her husband was named

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in 1774, she accompanied him to London where, soon enough, she hosted people notable in arts, letters, and sciences, turning the Portuguese embassy into a '' salon littéraire''. After definitely returning to Portugal, she became closely acquainted with the Marquise of Alorna. She became known as ''Safo Portuguesa'' ("the Portuguese Sappho") due to her poems in celebration of love.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balsemão, Catarina Micaela de Sousa César e Lencastre, Viscountess of 1749 births 1824 deaths 18th-century Portuguese people 18th-century Portuguese poets 18th-century Portuguese women writers 18th-century Portuguese writers 19th-century Portuguese people 19th-century Portuguese poets 19th-century Portuguese women writers People from Guimarães Portuguese nobility Portuguese salon-holders Portuguese women poets