Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho (1 February 1847 – 24 March 1921) was a Portuguese writer and poet. She was the first woman to join the Portuguese Academy of Sciences (''Academia das Ciências de Lisboa'').

Life

The daughter of José Vaz de Carvalho and Maria Cristina de Almeida e Albuquerque, she was married to the poet António Cândido Gonçalves Crespo. She wrote for several newspapers in Portugal (''Diário Popular'', ''Repórter'', ''Artes e Letras'') and Brazil (''Jornal do Comércio'', Rio de Janeiro), under the pseudonym Maria de Sucena. As well as poetry, she wrote short stories, essays, biographies, and literary criticism. The collection of stories for children she wrote with her husband, ''Contos para os nossos filhos'' ''(Tales for our Children'', 1886) was approved by the Board of Public Instruction for use in schools. She was one of the first women in Portugal who were concerned with women's subordinate status and in particular about improving the educational opportunities for

Women in Portugal Women in Portugal received full legal equality with Portuguese men as mandated by Portugal's constitution of 1976, which in turn resulted from the Revolution of 1974. Women were allowed to vote for the first time in Portugal in 1931 under Salaz ...

together with Francisca Wood, Alice Pestana, Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcelos, Alice Moderno, Angelina Vidal, Antónia Pusich and Guiomar Torrezão. Her house was the first literary salon in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

; they were hosts to Eça de Queiroz, Camilo Castelo Branco,

Ramalho Ortigão José Duarte Ramalho Ortigão () (24 November 1836 – 27 September 1915) was a Portuguese writer of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Biography Ortigão spent his early years with his maternal grandmother in Porto. He studied law i ...

and

Guerra Junqueiro Abílio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro (, 17 September 1850 – 7 July 1923) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese top civil servant, member of the Portuguese House of Representatives, journalist, author, and poet. His work helped inspire the creation of ...

. In 1993, the municipality of

Loures Loures () is a city and a municipality in Portugal which is part of the Lisbon District, District and Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Metropolitan area of Lisbon. It is the fifth most populous municipality in the country, with a total population of 201, ...

(where she had lived as a child) established a literary award in her name called the Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho Prize - Children's Literature (awarded 1937-1961). The 1938 winner was writer Maria Archer. She died in Lisbon, aged 74, and was buried there in the

Prazeres Cemetery Prazeres Cemetery () is one of the largest cemeteries in Lisbon, Portugal; it is located in the ''freguesia'' (civil parish) of Estrela, in western Lisbon (formerly, within the parish of Prazeres). It is considered to be one of the most beauti ...

Works

Biographies

*''Vida do Duque de Palmela D.Pedro de Sousa e Holstein'', 1898–1903

Short story collections

*''Contos para os nossos filhos'', 1886 *''Contos e Fantasias'', 1880

Literary criticism

*''Alguns Homens do Meu Tempo'', 1889 () *''Pelo Mundo Fora'', 1889 () *''A Arte de Viver na Sociedade'', 1897 *''Em Portugal e no Estrangeiro'', 1899 *''Figuras de Hoje e de Ontem'', 1902 *''Cérebros e Corações'', 1903 *''Ao Correr do Tempo'', 1906 *''Impressões da História'', 1911 *''Coisas do Século XVIII em Portugal, Coisas de Agora'', 1913

Education

*''Mulheres e creanças: nota sobre educação'', 1880

Essays

*''Serões no Campo'', 1877

Poetry

*''Uma Primavera de Mulher'', 1867 *''Vozes no Ermo'', 1867

References

External links