Helena Sacadura Cabral, aged 90, has launched her first children’s book titled ‘Mãos Pequenas, Coração Grande’. This story about tenderness, empathy, and care for others is illustrated by Carolina Branco.
Having authored more than 45 books for adults, Cabral, known for her iconic laughter and impressive career, has embraced this new challenge. “Since becoming a mother, I used to write down the bedtime stories I told my children so I wouldn’t change them when repeated. One day, publisher Graça Dimas suggested I publish one of them, and being fond of challenges, I accepted,” she said in an interview, noting that ‘Mãos Pequenas, Coração Grande’ was inspired by “family values” and her close relationship with her maternal grandmother.
Despite a lifetime of writing for adults, this economist – who was also the first woman to join the technical staff at the Bank of Portugal – encountered no significant difficulties in writing for children, as she pointed out, “affection and tenderness are universal, for both adults and children”.
The book can also offer a ‘lesson’ for adults. “The lack of these values in adults often results in children suffering similarly in their upbringing,” Cabral noted. “Children spend less time with parents as both work, whereas grandmothers, who used to help, are also working now. Consequently, children are heavily influenced by social media, which could be educational but often is not,” she added.
Writing is part of her strategy to stay youthful. “Reading widely, staying aware of the world around us, and socializing are also key. By nature, I am someone who doesn’t want to miss anything happening around me. My friends are much younger, between 50 and 70 years old, adding a bohemian aspect to my life as most of them are artists,” she confessed.
Kizomba. “And why shouldn’t I dance?”
Despite her nine decades, Helena Sacadura Cabral remains physically active and even dances kizomba. When asked about this hobby, she responded with indignation, showing that age is merely a number to her: “And why shouldn’t I dance? I have no physical ailment preventing it, I enjoy it, and if there’s an opportunity, why miss it? Do you think I’m done with certain pleasures at 90? I’m not,” she stated proudly.
This attitude is highly praised on social media, where she boasts thousands of followers: over 102,000 on Instagram and 82,000 on LinkedIn. “When I’m older, I want to be like Helena,” reads one of the many posts about the woman who hopes to be remembered as a ‘cool person’.
For now, she is ready to embrace everything “God wills”. “I am in His hands and will try to fulfill that to the end,” she affirmed, demonstrating her steadfast beliefs.
“Party politics disappointed me greatly”
Recently, on social media, she commented on Pope Francis’s death, expressing that she felt she had lost someone who “understood” her. As for the new Pope, Leo XIV, the writer expressed significant hope, believing that his approach will be similar to Francis’s.
Discussing her disdain for politics, partly due to her ex-husband Nuno Portas and her late son Miguel Portas, who passed away in 2012, Cabral, also the mother of Paulo Portas, explained that her disillusionment was with “party politics”, not politics itself.
“Politics per se interests me greatly as it’s a means to improve the lives of people. However, party politics disappointed me to the point of total disengagement. Nonetheless, I am well-informed about world affairs, and as an economist, I consider what they could mean for Portugal,” she concluded.
