Fernanda Peleja Patrício (19292000) was a Portuguese communist who opposed the country's '' Estado Novo'' regime. After the overthrow of the ''Estado Novo'', she served on the Constituent Assembly of Portugal and in the first legislature of the Assembly of the Republic.

Early life

Fernanda Peleja Patrício was born in

Aljustrel Aljustrel (), officially Town of Aljustrel (), is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 9,257, in an area of 458.47 km2. The present mayor is Nelson Domingos Brito, elected by the Socialis ...

in the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

region of Portugal, on 5 October 1929. She was born in the neighbourhood built to house the miners working for the

Aljustrel mine The Mines of Aljustrel () is a zinc/lead mine situated in the civil parish of Aljustrel e Rio de Moinhos, in the municipality of Aljustrel, in the Portuguese Alentejo district of Beja. It was classified as a monument in 1982. History With mor ...

. Her father was one of the founders of the mineworkers' union. She had six siblings. She became a primary school teacher in 1950, but was suspended in 1959 for her opposition to the regime and prevented from teaching again until the ''Estado Novo'' was overthrown by the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

in 1974.

Political activities

Patrício became a leader of the '' Movimento Democrático de Mulheres'' (Women's Democratic Movement - MDM), an association created in 1968 by groups opposed to the ''Estado Novo''. As a member of the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

(PCP), she was elected to the Constituent Assembly in April 1975, representing the

Beja District The Beja District (; ) is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, comprising around 11% of Portuguese territory. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district i ...

. The Assembly had the function of developing a new constitution for Portugal and she intervened on the topic of the rights of women at a time when it was clear that there were divergent views among the members. The Constituent Assembly was followed, in 1976, by the First National Assembly of Portugal's Second Republic, to which Patrício was also elected. Patrício returned to teaching in 1980 in the municipality of

Almodôvar Almodôvar ( , from ), officially known as Town of Almodôvar (), is a town and a municipality in the District of Beja, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 7,449, in an area of 777.88 km2. The present Mayor is António Bota, a member of th ...

in the Alentejo. However, soon after, she was elected as a full-time councillor in the Aljustrel City Council. She served as president of the Aljustrel council between 1986 and 1989. In 1987 she founded an MDM choral group for the Alentejo and she also organized a theatre group in Aljustrel. In poor health, she retired in 1994 and went to live with her daughter in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, where she died on 8 October 2000.

Awards and honours

*In 2001, Patrício was posthumously awarded the Municipal Gold Medal of Merit from Aljustrel. *A street is named after her in Aljustrel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patricio, Fernanda Peleja 1929 births People from Aljustrel 2000 deaths Portuguese Communist Party politicians Portuguese communists Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Women members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)