Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho


Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho was a Portuguese writer and poet. She was the first woman to join the Portuguese Academy of Sciences.

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 and Brazil, 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 '' 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 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; they were hosts to Eça de Queiroz, Camilo Castelo Branco, Ramalho Ortigão and Guerra Junqueiro.
In 1993, the municipality of Loures established a literary award in her name called the Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho Prize - Children's Literature. The 1938 winner was writer Maria Archer.
She died in Lisbon, aged 74, and was buried there in the Prazeres Cemetery.

Works

Biographies