Maria Quitéria
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Maria Quitéria (27 July 1792 – 21 August 1853) was a Brazilian lieutenant and national heroine. She served in the
Brazilian War of Independence The Brazilian War of Independence ( pt, Guerra de Independência do Brasil, links=no), was waged between the newly independent Brazilian Empire and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, which had just undergone the Liberal Re ...
in 1822–23 dressed as a man. She was promoted to cadet and Lieutenant and decorated with the Imperial order. She has been called "Brazilian
Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...
," and has become a kind of national legendary figure. Quitéria was the first woman to serve in a military unit in Brazil. She, along with Maria Filipa de Oliveira (died 1873) and Sister
Joana Angélica Sister ''Joana Angélica de Jesus'', registered as Joanna Angelica de Jesus (December 12, 1761 – February 19, 1822) was a Brazilian Conceptionist nun, belonging to the Reformed Order of Our Lady of  Conception, and martyr of the Brazilian Indep ...
(1761-1822), are known as the three Bahian women resistance fighters in the War of Independence against the Portuguese. Against her father's will, an unmarried Maria Quitéria enlisted in the Brazilian army, as a man, in October 1822. Until June 1823, she fought in several battles against the Portuguese in
Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
, where she lived. Maria Quitéria's father outed her as a woman once he discovered her betrayal—but because of her skill in battle, she was allowed to continue to fight. She was promoted to cadet in July 1823, and then to lieutenant in August, where she was received and decorated by the Emperor. Few details are known about the life of Maria Quitéria. The historian Aristides Milton, a childhood friend of the poet Castro Alves, grandson of the major who defended Maria Quiteria for her skill with weapons and recognized military discipline, and incorporated it her to his troops, considers Maria Quiteria "a lady as brave as honest" in the Ephemerides Cachoeiranas. She is briefly mentioned by English travel author
Maria Graham Maria Graham, Lady Callcott (née Dundas; 19 July 1785 – 21 November 1842), was a British writer of travel books and children's books, and also an accomplished illustrator. Early life She was born near Cockermouth in Cumberland as Maria Dund ...
(later Lady Callcott) in her book ''Journal of a Voyage to Brazil'': "Maria de Jesus is illiterate, but lively. She has clear intelligence and acute perception. I think that if they educated her, she would become a notable personality. One observes nothing masculine in her conduct, rather she is of gentle and friendly manners."


Personal life

Maria Quitéria de Jesus was born on June 27, 1792, in Licurizeiro, in the parish of São José das Itaporocas (now located in Feira de Santana),
Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...
. She was the eldest daughter of a farmer, Gonçalo Alves de Almeida, and his wife, Quitéria Maria de Jesus, who died when the young Maria Quitéria was just 10 years old. Her father would go on to remarry on two more occasions, once with Eugenia Maria dos Santos, and later to Rosa Maria de Brito. Although Maria received no formal education, she would have practiced the skills necessary to farming, such as riding, hunting, and using firearms—these skills would serve her in the military as well. After her time serving in the war, Quitéria married Gabriel Pereira Brito (who was a former lover of hers) and had one daughter with him, named Luisa. Near the end of her life, the widowed Maria Quitéria was nearly blind, and in 1853 she died in relative obscurity and poverty near
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. Her remains were placed in the ossuary of the
Church of the Blessed Sacrament of Saint Anne The Church of the Blessed Sacrament of Saint Anne ( pt, Igreja do Santíssimo Sacramento e Sant'Ana) is an 18th-century Roman Catholic church located in Nazaré, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The church is dedicated to Saint Anne and belongs to the Ro ...
( pt, Igreja do Santíssimo Sacramento e Sant'Ana), in the neighborhood of Nazaré in Salvador. It was not until years later that her legacy was revived.


Legacy

After her death, Maria Quitéria was memorialized nationally in a number of ways. In 1953, one hundred years after her death, a bronze medal was issued by the military bearing Maria Quitéria's likeness. It is called the "Medal of Maria Quitéria" and was issued to both civilians and military personnel for valuable contributions to military efforts. By presidential decree in 1996, Maria Quitéria was proclaimed Patron of the Corps of Support Staff Officers of the Brazilian Army. The best-known painting of Maria Quitéria is a work by Italian painter Domenico Failutti from 1920 titled ''
Portrait of Maria Quitéria de Jesus Medeiros ''Portrait of Maria Quitéria de Jesus Medeiros'' ( pt, Retrato de Maria Quitéria de Jesus Medeiros) is a painting by Domenico Failutti (1872-1923). Failutto, an Italian who worked in Brazil between 1917 and 1922, completed the work in 1920 on ...
'' ( pt, Retrato de Maria Quitéria de Jesus Medeiros). She is depicted standing alone, holding a rifle and wearing the uniform of a Brazilian lieutenant. The work can be found in the
Museu Paulista The Museu Paulista of the University of São Paulo, commonly known as Museu do Ipiranga, is a Brazilian Museum#Historic houses, history museum located near the place where Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro I Brazilian Declaration of Independence, p ...
at the
University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiteria, Maria 1792 births 1853 deaths People from Feira de Santana Female wartime cross-dressers Women in war in South America Women in 19th-century warfare 19th-century Brazilian people