Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares, GCL ( Fuseta, 2 May 1925 –

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 ...

, 7 July 2015) was a Portuguese actress, teacher and political and social activist, having been one of the founders of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS), in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, in 1973. As the wife of the 17th President of Portugal,

Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...

, she was the first-lady of the country between 1986 and 1996.

Family

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 Barroso and the maternal granddaughter of Manuel dos Santos and his wife Maria da Rainha Santa. She was the paternal aunt of Alfredo Barroso and the maternal aunt of Mário Barroso, Eduardo Barroso and Graça Barroso.

Biography

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 Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...

and, then, from

. Her father, an opposer to the dictatorship, was arrested in the Lisbon Penitentiary and was deported to the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

, where he was jailed in the

Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...

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. Through the actor Assis Pacheco she enters the prestigious

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

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. Circa 1946, after acting in Coimbra ''A Casa da Bernarda Alba'' (The House of Bernarda Alba), of

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

, she's prevented from remaining in that company by interference of

PIDE The International and State Defense Police (; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the PIDE were the border, immigration and emigrati ...

. While being an actress, Barroso continued her studies in the Faculty of Arts, Lisbon, where she would obtain a degree in Historical and Philosophical Sciences, in 1951. It was in college that she met

, whom she would marry on 22 February 1949, by proxy (but registered at the 3rd Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon). Soares was then jailed for political reasons. With Soares, Barroso had two children, politician João Soares, born 1949, and psychologist Isabel Barroso Soares, born 1951, who manages the Colégio Moderno in Lisbon.Biography: Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares
prodignitate.pt. Curriculum of Maria Barroso, retrieved 7 July 2015 After being stopped from working in theater, Barroso would also be forbidden by the government to be a teacher. She applied for an internship for admission to teach, not having been accepted in a public school, choosing to do an internship in ''Colégio Moderno'', ran by her father-in-law João Soares. After two years, however, her license to teach in private schools would be revoked by the National Education Ministry. She would manage the family school and only after 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 ...

would she, legally, act as its director. She would return to acting, in ''Antígona'' (1965) in the Villaret Theater, and in cinema, with the emergency of the '' Cinema Novo Português'', acting in Paulo Soares da Rocha's movie, ''Mudar de Vida'' (To Change Life), debuting in 1966. In the 70s and 80s she acted in

Manoel de Oliveira Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira (; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about Wor ...

's movies (1985 - ''Le Soulier de Satin'', 1979 - ''Amor de Perdição'', 1975 - ''Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe''). In 1968, Barroso accompanies her husband when he is deported to

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álv ...

, where she is again prevented from teaching. Later, in the 70s, when the

Marcello Caetano Marcello is a common masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Marcellus. The Spanish and Portuguese version of the name is Marcelo, differing in having only one "l", while the Greek form is Markellos. Etymology The name originally mea ...

government allows Soares to exile in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Barroso returns to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, continuing to manage the family school. In 1969, Barroso ran as a deputy for the CEUD (Electoral Commission of Democratic Unity), led by Mário Soares, and where Catholics and monarchists involved in the democratic opposition to the regime would insert themselves. In 1973, she participated in the III Congress of Democratic Oopposition, in Aveiro, being the only women to intervene in the opening session. She was one of the seven people to vote against the transformation of the Portuguese Socialist Action, against the official stand of Mário Soares. After the

, Barroso was elected as a deputy of the Assembly of the Republic, successively, for Santarém,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, and Faro, in the legislatures started in 1976, 1979, 1980 and 1983. Although not as politically involved as her husband, Maria Barroso was a founding member of the

in Bad Münstereifel,

in 1973. In 1986, Soares is elected President of the Republic and Barroso takes on the role of First Lady of Portugal (1986- 1996). As the First Lady, her intervention was directed towards the defense of the family sense and fighting against social exclusion and all forms of violence, participating in numerous initiatives in Portugal and other Portuguese speaking countries. In 1990, she created the Mozambique Emergency movement, granting, in the following year, the scripture of the Association for the Study and Prevention of Violence. In 1995, she presided over the opening of the cycle of realizations for the International Year of Fighting against

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

. After leaving the Belém Palace, in 1997, she became the president of the Portuguese Red Cross, position she held until 2003. She was also a founding partner and president of the Administration Council of ONGD, since 1994 until her death, and also presided over the Aristides Sousa Mendes Foundation. She was awarded a ''Honoris Causa'' doctorate by the

Lesley University Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1909 to educate teachers. Originally founded as a women's college, male students were admitted beginning in 2005. History 1909–1998 Th ...

(23 May 1994), by the University of Aveiro (16 December 1996), by the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

(3 November 1999) and by the '' Universidade Lusófona'' in 2012. She was an honorary professor of the Society of International Studies of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. And also received a Grand Cross of the

Order of Liberty The Order of Liberty, or the Order of Freedom (), is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human dignity. The order was cr ...

on 7 March 1997. She was a member of the Portuguese National Theater Company and one of the most famous theater and cinema actresses in

. In April 2000 she read the poetry of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in homage to Aristides Sousa Mendes. 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.

Illness and death

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 Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) refers to any form of Hemorrhage, bleeding Internal bleeding, within the Human skull, skull. It can result from trauma, vascular abnormalities, hypertension, or other medical conditions. ICH is broadly categorized ...

. She entered a deep

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

, and Eduardo Barroso classified the situation as "critical" and "most likely irreversible". She died in the morning of 7 July 2015.

Honours and awards

Honours

National honours

* : Grand Cross of the

(7 March 1997) *

Portuguese Royal Family The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

: Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel (3 July 2002)

Foreign honours

*: Grand Cross of the

Order of Rio Branco Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

(25 July 1989) *: 1st Class of the

Order of the Rose The Imperial Order of the Rose () was a Brazilian order of chivalry, instituted by Pedro I of Brazil, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil on 17 October 1829 to commemorate his marriage to Amélie of Leuchtenberg. On 22 March 1890, the order was cancelled as ...

(26 October 1994) *: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (8 January 1991) *: Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(3 August 1992) *: Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

(8 March 1991) *: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (7 May 1990) *: Grand Cross 1st Class of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(9 January 1991) *: Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (17 May 1983) *: First Class of the Order of the Flag of the People's Republic of Hungary (25 November 1982) *: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (9 January 1990) *: Grand Cordon of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite The Order of Ouissam Alaouite () or the Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui is a military decoration of Morocco which is bestowed by the King of Morocco upon those civilians and military officers who have displayed heroism in combat or have contribute ...

(20 February 1995) *: Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Charles III The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...

(30 March 1988) *: Member Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order o ...

(28 January 1987) *: Grand Cross of the Order of Francisco de Miranda (18 November 1987) *: Grand Collar of the National Order of Zaire (4 December 1989)

Awards

* Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Aveiro * Doctor 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 * Recipient of the Red Cross Medal of Portugal * 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 * Algarvia (lady from the Algarve region) of the Year 1997 by the Association of the Algarve’s Regional Press * Personality of the Year 1998 in the area of solidarity by the Magazine Revista Gente e Viagem * Most Elegant Woman of the Year 1998 – Magazine 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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barroso, Maria 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