Adelina Abranches (15 August 1866 – 21 November 1945) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

stage

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

born in Lisbon. She was considered a child prodigy, performing roles on stage at the age of four. She is notable for her acting career in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

Overview

She was born in Lisbon, Portugal. A theatrical child prodigy, she first performed at just four years of age in the piece ''Meninos Grandes'' ("Big Kids") at the

National Theatre D. Maria II The Queen Maria II National Theatre ( pt, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II) is a theatre in Lisbon, Portugal. The historic theatre is one of the most prestigious Portuguese venues and is located in the Rossio square, in the centre of the city. Hi ...

in Lisbon. She became known as "the Spanish girl" because of the dress she wore in her first role. She then began a brilliant career in

, playing, in spite of her small stature, drag roles,

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a ...

s, and ladies of the night. She made an impact in plays such as ''Os Velhos'' ("The Old Ones"), ''Avô'' ("Grandfather"), ''Pranto de Maria Parda'' ("Maria Parda's Tears"), and ''

The Lady of the Camellias ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' in which she had widespread success.

Silent films

In 1930 she played Aunt Aurélia in the Portuguese silent film, ''Maria do Mar'', directed by

José Leitão de Barros José Leitão de Barros (22 October 1896 – 29 June 1967) was a Portuguese film director and playwright. Among his most famous films are ''Maria do Mar'' (1930), the second docufiction after '' Moana'' (1926) by Robert Flaherty, the first Port ...

. In Portugal she worked under

Amélia Rey Colaço Amélia Lafourcade Schmidt Rey Colaço de Robles Monteiro (2 March 1898–8 July 1990) was one of the leading Portuguese actors of the first half of the 20th century. She was also an important impresario. Early years Amélia Rey Colaço was born ...

alongside actors such as

Eunice Muñoz Eunice Muñoz, OSE, GCIH (30 July 1928 – 15 April 2022) was a Portuguese actress, considered one of the best Portuguese actresses ever. She was born in Amareleja, Portugal. She studied at the Portuguese National Conservatory, nowadays the L ...

and Estêvão Amarante.

Family

She married Luís Ruas, owner of the Teatro do Príncipe Real, and was the mother of actors Luís Ruas and Aura Abranches; the latter published her mother's memoirs in 1947.

Distinctions

National orders

PRT Order of Saint James of the Sword - Officer BAR

Officer of the

Order of Saint James of the Sword The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword ( pt, Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portuguese order of chivalry. Its full name is the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientif ...

(5 October 1928)

References

* Grande História Universal Ediclube, 2006 * Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira * Nova Enciclopédia Portuguesa, Ed. Publicações Ediclube, 1996

External links

* 1866 births 1945 deaths 19th-century Portuguese actresses 20th-century Portuguese actresses Officers of the Order of Saint James of the Sword Portuguese stage actresses Actresses from Lisbon {{Portugal-actor-stub