Maria Manuela Conceição Carvalho Margarido (1925 – 10March 2007) was a Santomean poet.

Biography

Margarido was born in Roça Olímpia,

Príncipe Príncipe (; ) is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Cens ...

, in 1925. Margarido's father was a

Portuguese Jew 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 ** Portu ...

from Porto and her mother was of Goa Portuguese and Angolan origin. Her father, judge David Guedes de Carvalho, was a judge. She attended a Franciscan school at

Valença Valença may refer to: People * Valensi (surname), alternative spelling *Marquis of Valença, a Portuguese title of nobility *Count of Valença, a Portuguese title of nobility *Alceu Valença (born 1946), a Brazilian composer *Valença (football ...

and later studied at Colégio do Sagrado Coração de Maria in

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 ...

. Margarido opposed Portugal's colonization of São Tomé and Príncipe and supported the independence of the archipelago. In 1953, she protested the

Batepá massacre The Batepá massacre occurred on 3 February 1953 in colonial São Tomé when hundreds of native Creole peoples#Portuguese Africa, creoles known as ''Forro Creole, forros'' were massacred by the Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, colonial admin ...

perpetrated by Portuguese landowners. Margarido regularly visited Casa dos Estudantes do Império ('House of Students of the Empire'), a facility that became the center of liberation movements in the Portuguese colonies of Africa. There, she met Alfredo Margarido, Edmundo Bettencourt, Cândido da Costa Pinto, and

Manuel de Castro Manuel de Castro González (9 August 1885 – 27 August 1944), better known as Hándicap, was a Spanish sports journalist, football executive, manager, referee, and politician. He was one of the most important figures in the amateur beginnings o ...

. She studied religious studies, sociology, ethnology, and film at École Pratique de Hautes Études ('Practical School of High Studies') and at Sorbonne 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 ...

where she was exiled. She was later a librarian and secretary there. 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 ...

in Portugal in April 1974 where the Estado Novo fascist regime ended, she returned to São Tomé and Príncipe where she was later ambassador of her country in Brussels and took part in different international organizations. She also worked in the theatre and worked for the Portuguese magazine ''Estudos Ultramarinos''. In Lisbon, where she later lived, Margarido took part in the dissemination of her country's culture, and was considered by

Alda Espírito Santo Alda may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places United States * Alda, Nebraska, a village * Alda Township, Hall County, Nebraska Spain * Alda, Álava, a hamlet in Harana/Valle de Arana People * Alda (name), a given name and surname * Alda (singer) (born 1966) ...

, Caetano da Costa Alegre, and

Francisco José Tenreiro Francisco José Tenreiro (20 January 1921 – 1963) was a São Toméan geographer and poet who lived during the colonial era. He was taught at the Overseas Political and Social Sciences Institute, now known as the Instituto Superior de Ciência ...

to be one of the greatest names in Santomean poetry. In other works, she was consecutive council member of the ''Atalaia'' magazine, of the Interdisciplinary Science, Technology and Society Centre (''Centro Interdisciplinar de Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade'') at 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 ...

. She died at the age of 83 at Hospital São Francisco Xavier in Lisbon. Her funeral took place at the headquarters of the Grande Oriente Lusitano.

Works

In her poetry, she denounced colonial oppression and the miserable working conditions in Santomean coffee and cocoa plantations. Her greatest work was ''Alto como o silêncio'', published in 1957.

References

External links

Memory from the island of Príncipe
, (Principean Creole) {{DEFAULTSORT:Margarido, Manuela 1925 births 2007 deaths São Tomé and Príncipe poets São Tomé and Príncipe women poets People from Príncipe Ambassadors of São Tomé and Príncipe to Belgium 20th-century poets 20th-century women writers

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links