Maria Barroso
Maria Barroso | |
---|---|
First Lady of Portugal | |
In role 9 March 1986 – 9 March 1996 | |
President | Mário Soares |
Preceded by | Manuela Ramalho Eanes |
Succeeded by | Maria José Ritta |
Member of the Assembly of the Republic Elections: 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983[1] | |
In office 3 June 1976 – 13 November 1980 | |
In office 31 May 1983 – 4 November 1985 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso 2 May 1925 Fuseta, First Portuguese Republic |
Died | 7 July 2015 São Domingos de Benfica, Portugal | (aged 90)
Resting place | Prazeres Cemetery, Lisbon |
Political party | Socialist Party |
Spouse | Mário Soares (1949–2015) |
Children | João Barroso Soares Isabel Barroso Soares |
Alma mater | University of Lisbon |
Occupation | Politician Actress |
Profession | Teacher |
Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares, GCL (Fuseta, 2 May 1925 – Lisbon, 7 July 2015) was a Portuguese actress, teacher and political and social activist, having been one of the founders of the Socialist Party (PS), in Germany, in 1973.[2] As the wife of the 17th President of Portugal, Mário Soares, she was the first-lady of the country between 1986 and 1996.
Family
[edit]Barroso was the daughter of military Alfredo José Barroso (Alvor, 15 April 1887 - Campo Grande, Lisbon, 14 January 1970) and Maria da Encarnação Simões, born in Coimbra, they married in Alvor in 1912. She's the paternal granddaughter of José Barroso de Sousa and his wife Maria de Jesus Barrosa and the maternal granddaughter of Manuel dos Santos and his wife Maria da Rainha Santa.
She was the paternal aunt of the Alfredo Barroso and the maternal aunt of Mário Barroso, Eduardo Barroso and Graça Barroso.
Biography
[edit]She came from a big family - she was the fifth of seven siblings - Maria de Jesus Barroso was there for the family's move, from Fuseta to Setúbal and, then, from Setúbal to Lisbon. Her father, an opposer to the dictatorship, was arrested in the Lisbon Penitentiary and was deported to the Azores, where he was jailed in the Angra do Heroísmo Fort. After her primary education, that she did in Setúbal and Lisbon, she attended the secondary schools of D. Filipa de Lencastre and Pedro Nunes.
In her adolescence she gained an interest for theater and the art of spoken poetry, what led her to attend the Course of Dramatic Art in the National Conservatory Theater School. She ended her studies in 1943. She was a director and teacher of Art of Saying in the Colégio Moderno, replacing Manuel Lereno.[3] Through the actor Assis Pacheco she enters the prestigious theater company Rey Colaço-Robles Monteiro, based in the D. Maria II National Theatre, replacing Maria Lalande. She debuted in 1944 in Aparências (Appearances), of Jacinto Benavente, directed by Palmira Bastos, and had prominent interpretation in Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe (Benilde or the Virgin Mother) of José Régio.[4] Circa 1946, after acting in Coimbra A Casa da Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba), of Federico García Lorca, she's prevented from remaining in that company by interference of PIDE.
Maria Barroso married her university colleague Mário Soares in 1949 at the 3rd Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon,[5] while he was in the Aljube prison. They had one son, politician João Soares, born 1949, and a daughter, Isabel Barroso Soares, born 1951, who manages the Colégio Moderno in Lisbon.[6]
Although not as politically involved as her husband, Maria Barroso was a founding member of the Socialist Party in Bad Münstereifel, Germany in 1973. She was the President of the Aristides Sousa Mendes Foundation, the Pro Dignitate Association and the head of the Portuguese Red Cross for several years.
Maria Barroso had a degree in Historical and Philosophical Sciences from the Faculty of Arts, Lisbon and the course of Dramatic Arts from the National Conservatory.[6] She was a member of the Portuguese National Theater Company and one of the most famous theater and cinema actresses in Portugal. In April 2000 she read the poetry of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at the United Nations in New York in homage to Aristides Sousa Mendes.[7] She was involved in activities aimed at supporting the areas of culture, education and family, childhood, social solidarity, female dimension, health, the integration of the disabled and the prevention of violence.[6]
Illness and death
[edit]On 25 June 2015, Maria Barroso came under medical care at Lisbon’s Red Cross Hospital after falling at home. She was transported to the hospital by her nephew Eduardo Barroso, a well-known hepato-biliary surgeon, walking in by her own foot. An initial CT scan revealed nothing serious; however, her condition worsened during the subsequent hours, and new exams revealed an extensive intracranial hemorrhage. She entered a deep coma, and Eduardo Barroso classified the situation as "critical" and "most likely irreversible".[8] She died in the morning of 7 July 2015.[9]
Honours and awards
[edit]Honours
[edit]National honours
[edit]- Portugal
- Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty[10]
- Portugal: Recipient of the Red Cross Medal[10]
- Portuguese Royal Family: Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel[10]
Foreign honours
[edit]- Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco (25 July 1989)[10]
- Bulgaria: 1st Class of the Order of the Rose (26 October 1994)[10]
- Colombia: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (8 January 1991)[10]
- Denmark: Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (3 August 1992)[10]
- Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (8 March 1991)[10]
- France: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (7 May 1990)[10]
- Germany: Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (9 January 1991)[10]
- Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (17 May 1983)[10]
- Hungary: First Class of the Order of the Flag of the People's Republic of Hungary (25 November 1982)[10]
- Luxembourg: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (9 January 1990)[10]
- Morocco: Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (20 February 1995)[10]
- Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (30 March 1988)[10][11]
- Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star (28 January 1987)[10]
- Venezuela: Grand Cross of the Order of Francisco de Miranda (18 November 1987)[10]
- Zaire: Grand Collar of the National Order of Zaire (4 December 1989)[10]
Awards
[edit]- Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Aveiro
- Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Lisbon
- Doctor Honoris Causa by Lesley College, Boston
- Honorary Professor of the Society of International Studies, Madrid
- Award "Impegno Per La Pace" of the Association Insieme per la Pace, Rome
- Award "Beca" by the Colégio Mayor Zurbaran, Madrid
- Gold Medal for Distinct Service from the League of Portuguese Firemen
- Medal of Solidarity from CNAF
- Silver Medal of the Alcuin Award
- Gold Medal from FERLAP
- Gold Medal from the City of Ovar
- Gold Medal from the City of Olhão
- Gold Medal from the City of Faro
- Personality of the Year 1998 in the area of solidarity by the Magazine Revista Gente e Viagem
- Algarvia (lady from the Algarve region) of the Year 1997 by the Association of the Algarve’s Regional Press
- Most Elegant Woman of the Year 1998 – Magazine Revista VIP
- Neckband of the International Academy of Portuguese Culture
- “One in ten women of the year 1999” Prize – Brazil
- D. Antónia Ferreira Prize
- Prestige Prize
- “Manus Cais” Trophy
- “Lonely Life” Prize – Radio Central FM, Leiria
References
[edit]- ^ Portuguese National Assembly
- ^ "Maria Barroso, a atriz, ativista e companheira de vida de Mário Soares". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ Dias, Patrícia Costa (2011). A vida com um sorriso: histórias, experiências, gargalhadas, reflexões de Isabel Wolmar. Lisboa: Ésquilo. p. 60. ISBN 978-989-8092-97-7.
- ^ Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de (2015-07-07). "Faleceu Maria Barroso, a atriz, ativista e companheira de vida de Mário Soares". Faleceu Maria Barroso, a atriz, ativista e companheira de vida de Mário Soares (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
- ^ Company, H.W. Wilson (1976). Current biography yearbook. H. W. Wilson Co. p. 393. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
{{cite book}}
:|last=
has generic name (help) - ^ a b c Biography: Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares. prodignitate.pt. Curriculum of Maria Barroso, retrieved 7 July 2015
- ^ En hommage à Aristides de Sousa Mendes Archived 2015-07-08 at the Wayback Machine. aristidesdesousamendes.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015
- ^ Maria Barroso está em coma profundo. Sobrinho diz que estado é "irreversível". dn.pt. Retrieved 3 June 2023
- ^ Former First Lady dies. theportugalnews.com. Retrieved 7 July 2015
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "list of Maria's honours" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- ^ "Images". cadenaser00.epimg.net. 2015.
External links
[edit]- 1925 births
- 2015 deaths
- First ladies of Portugal
- Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians
- Portuguese anti-fascists
- Portuguese film actresses
- Actor-politicians
- People from Olhão
- Spouses of prime ministers of Portugal
- Grand Crosses of the Order of Liberty
- Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel
- Recipients of the Ordre national du Mérite
- Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite
- Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
- Knights of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
- Recipients of the Order of the House of Orange
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the House of Orange
- Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star
- 20th-century Portuguese women politicians
- Accidental deaths from falls
- Accidental deaths in Portugal
- Deaths from intracranial haemorrhage