Virgínia Quaresma

Virgínia Quaresma
Quaresma, Almanaque das Senhoras, 1920
Born
Virgínia Sofia Guerra Quaresma

(1882-12-28)28 December 1882
Died26 October 1973(1973-10-26) (aged 90)
Lisbon, Portugal
NationalityPortuguese
Occupationjournalist
Years active1903-1960s
Known forfirst professional woman journalist in Portugal

Virgínia Sofia Guerra Quaresma OSE (28 December 1882 – 26 October 1973) was the first woman to take up professional journalism in Portugal and was one of the first women graduates from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon. She was openly lesbian, in a time when society dictated that sexual orientation be hidden, and a feminist, who advocated for full equality between men and women. In her coverage of a sensational murder case in Brazil, she brought the issue of violence against women to the forefront. In the 1930s, she relocated permanently to Brazil, but traveled internationally with her work. A street was renamed in her honor in the Belém neighborhood of Lisbon, and in 2010, she was honored with a stamp bearing her likeness, along with other women.