Elementos da Cruzada das Mulheres Portuguesas e o seu estandarte

The Portuguese Women's Crusade ( pt, italic=no, Cruzada das Mulheres Portuguesas ) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

feminist beneficence movement, founded in 1916 by a group of women led by

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Elzira Dantas Machado (an important advocate for women's activism, a founder of the Republican League of Portuguese Women and president of the Association of Feminist Propaganda), aiming to provide moral and material assistance to those in need in the context of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the enforcement of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

. It disbanded in 1938. A staple of the so-called

first-wave feminism First-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity and thought that occurred during the 19th and early 20th century throughout the Western world. It focused on legal issues, primarily on securing women's right to vote. The term is often used s ...

in Portugal, it has been studied as a key feature of the history of feminism in the context of the

Portuguese First Republic The First Portuguese Republic ( pt, Primeira República Portuguesa; officially: ''República Portuguesa'', Portuguese Republic) spans a complex 16-year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy ...

. The Portuguese Women's Crusade was not meant to be perceived as a ''political'' organisation, rather, it called itself a "patriotic and humanitarian institution" in its statutes, and brought together women of different political and cultural backgrounds. Along the Women's Crusade several founding members were the wives and daughters of several important politicians and military officers, namely Alzira Costa (wife of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

leader

Afonso Costa Afonso Augusto da Costa, GCTE, GCL (; born in Seia, 6 March 1871; died in Paris, 11 May 1937) was a Portuguese lawyer, professor and republican politician. Political career Costa was the leader of the Portuguese Republican Party and he was on ...

), Ester Norton de Matos (wife of the War Minister

José Norton de Matos José Maria Mendes Ribeiro Norton de Matos, GCTE, GCL (March 23, 1867 in Ponte de Lima, Portugal – January 3, 1955 in Ponte de Lima) was a Portuguese general and politician. 1880s After attending college in Braga, and attending the Escol ...

), and Amélia Leote do Rego (wife of , the commander of the Naval Division), as well as important feminists, such as

Ana de Castro Osório Ana de Castro Osório (18 June 1872 – 23 March 1935) was a Portuguese feminist, active in the field of children's literature and political Republicanism. Early life Osório was born into a well-off family on 18 June 1872, her mother being Mari ...

. Also a member was Portugal's first female lawyer, Regina Quintanilha. Activities conducted included the training of new nurses who were not Catholic nuns. This was led by

Sofia Quintino Sofia Quintino (1879-1964) was one of the first female physicians to graduate in Portugal. An active feminist, who opposed the Portuguese monarchy, she played a particularly important role in developing a secular nursing service, in a country whe ...

. On 12 June 1919, President Canto e Castro made the Portuguese Women's Crusade a

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit, and founder Elzira Dantas Machado a

of the Order of Christ.

References

{{Authority control 1916 establishments in Portugal 1938 disestablishments in Portugal Feminist organisations in Portugal First-wave feminism Organisations based in Lisbon Organizations established in 1916 Organizations disestablished in 1938 Women's organisations based in Portugal Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword History of women in Portugal