Maria Rosa Viseu (19352014) was a member of the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portugue ...

(PCP) who opposed the authoritarian '' Estado Novo'' regime in the 1960s and was a political prisoner.

Early life

Maria Rosa Viseu was born in

Couço Couço is a civil parish in the municipality of Coruche Coruche () is a municipality in Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,944, in an area of 1115.72 km². The present Mayor is Francisco Silvestre de Oliveira, el ...

in the agricultural municipality of

Coruche Coruche () is a municipality in Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,944, in an area of 1115.72 km². The present Mayor is Francisco Silvestre de Oliveira, elected by the Socialist Party. The Coruche City Council ha ...

in the

Santarém District The District of Santarém ( pt, Distrito de Santarém ) is a district of Portugal, located in Portugal's ''Centro Region''. The district capital is the city of Santarém. The district is the 3rd largest in Portugal, with an area of , and a pop ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 1935, the eldest daughter of farming parents. She had two sisters, one of whom died in childhood, and a brother. At the age of 10 she stopped going to school, so that she could look after her siblings while her mother was working. From the age of 11 she was working on farms.

Activism

In 1958, she attended a rally in support of the presidential campaign of

Humberto Delgado Humberto da Silva Delgado, ComC, GCA, GOA, ComA, OA, ComSE, GCL, OIP, CBE (Portuguese pronunciation: �ˈbɛɾtu dɛɫˈɡadu 15 May 1906 – 13 February 1965) was a General of the Portuguese Air Force, diplomat and politician. Early life ...

, which led to the development of her political awareness and to her joining the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP). In the following years she took part in strikes, demonstrations and other actions in her area, including protests about the electoral fraud of 1958, which ensured that Delgado would not win the election. In 1960 she took part in a campaign for an 8-hour working day and other improved working conditions. At the time, people were working 13 or 14 hours a day. On 19 January 1961 she was detained by the National Republican Guard (GNR) and handed over to the

PIDE The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the ...

, the ''Estado Novo's'' secret police. She was taken to

Caxias prison Caxias may refer to: Places Brazil *Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul *Caxias (Maranhão) *Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro * Caxias River, a river of Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil Portugal *Caxias, Oeiras Mars * Caxias (crater), a Marti ...

near Lisbon, where she was subjected to interrogation with torture for a week. Following a trial in July 1961, she served a further six months in prison. After her release she continued to participate in activities by farm workers to obtain better conditions.

After the Carnation Revolution

The

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

of 25 April 1974 overthrew the ''Estado Novo'' but was followed by a period of confusion. Viseu continued to participate in agricultural workers' protests, with the aim of combatting the seasonal unemployment that left workers with no money when there was no work. She was involved in the formation of agricultural workers' cooperatives and coordinated the management of collective production units. She was elected an alternate to the central committee of the PCP and became a leader of the agricultural workers union in Santarém District. Viseu died in Couço, in March 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viseu, Maria Rosa Portuguese communists Portuguese anti-fascists Portuguese prisoners and detainees 1935 births 2014 deaths People from Santarém District