Margarida Teresa da Silva e Orta (1711-1793) was a Brazilian author of the
Enlightenment era. She was born in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
and moved with her parents to
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 ...
at the age of six, where she remained for the rest of her life. Her chief work is ''Maximas de Virtude e Formosura'' (''Maxims of Virtue and Beauty''), published in
Lisbon in 1752 and reissued in 1777 under the title ''Aventuras de Diófanes''. Based on
Fénelon's novel ''
Télémaque'', it contains a criticism of
royal absolutism, recommending instead that the king should follow a policy of enlightened
paternalism.
References
*C. R. Boxer: ''Women in Iberian Expansion Overseas: Some Facts, Fancies and Personalities'' (Oxford University Press, 1975)
Portuguese writers
1711 births
1793 deaths
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