The book is set to be launched during a conference organized by the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation, focusing on the political, civic, and cultural contributions of the actress, activist, resistance figure against the Estado Novo dictatorship, PS founder, and wife of the former President of the Republic.
The event is part of the centennial celebrations of Mário Soares’ birth, coordinated by writer José Manuel dos Santos.
In the book’s preface, the President of the Republic states, “Maria Barroso was an exceptional actress whose career was curtailed by political life and dictatorial censorship.”
He continues, “She was also a cultured woman, a pedagogue, an educator of many generations of children and young people. She was a fighter for democracy, for freedom, and a socialist who believed in combining these three dimensions to serve the community.”
“As President of the Republic, I bow, grateful, for her life and work. In the name of Portugal,” he concludes.
António Guterres, who served as the socialist prime minister from 1995 to 2001, shares his view, saying that Maria Barroso “was more than a public figure” and her presence was “profoundly human, full of integrity, warmth, and kindness.”
“Her commitment to education, her fearless defense of democracy, her fight against social exclusion, and her firm commitment to human rights were not abstract ideals. They were urgent, personal, and rooted in love and care for people. That love was her compass, pointing the way for many, myself included,” notes the United Nations Secretary-General.
Following an introductory note by Isabel Henriques de Jesus, testimonials about Maria Barroso are also provided by former minister Maria de Belém Roseira, former President of the Assembly of the Republic Edite Estrela, Maria Manuela Aguiar, José Manuel dos Santos, Maria Emília Brederode Santos, Vítor Ramalho, Januário Torgal Ferreira, and former minister Jorge Lacão.
The book was coordinated by Ana Paula Ferreira, Isabel Henriques de Jesus, Maria do Céu Borrêcho, Maria Manuela Aguiar, and Teresa Sousa de Almeida.
The conference at the Mário Soares and Maria Barroso Foundation will focus on the founder of PS and Constituent Assembly deputy’s legacies in theater and cinema, poetry, politics, and pedagogy.
The event will open at 9:30 a.m., led by Isabel Soares, daughter of Maria de Jesus Barroso and Mário Soares, and Isabel Henriques de Jesus, a scholar of female-authored literature.
Eugénia Vasques and Tiago Bartolomeu da Costa will discuss Maria Barroso’s role in Portuguese theater and cinema, followed by brief comments from José Carlos Vasconcelos and Manuel Alegre on her connection to poetry. Maria de Belém Roseira and historian Pedro Marques Gomes will then discuss her political involvement.
In the afternoon, former Education Ministers Isabel Alçada and Marçal Grilo will present their insights on Maria Barroso’s educational work. Later, Graça Franco, Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, Maria Manuela Aguiar, and Vítor Ramalho will address her public engagement involvement.
