Irene Lisboa

Irene Lisboa was born on December 25, 1892 in Quinta da Murzinheira, a rural estate in the municipality of Arruda dos Vinhos. She came from a wealthy background and grew up surrounded by nature. She attended the Escola Normal Primária de Lisboa, where she graduated as a primary school teacher. She then continued her studies in Switzerland, France and Belgium, where she specialized in pedagogy. She studied with renowned educators such as Édouard Claparède and Jean Piaget at the Institut Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Geneva. She worked as a teacher and a school inspector for many years, until she was dismissed from her official positions by the Estado Novo regime that ruled Portugal from 1933 to 1974. She was considered a subversive element for her progressive ideas on education and her opposition to the dictatorship. She then devoted herself to writing and publishing works on pedagogy, literature and culture. She used several pseudonyms to avoid censorship and discrimination, such as Manuel Soares for her educational works, João Falcó for her early literary works and much of her poetry, and Maria Moira for some of her essays. She wrote novels, short stories, poems, essays and books for children that reflected her personal and social experiences as a woman, a teacher, a writer and a citizen. She explored themes such as loneliness, nostalgia, love, death, childhood, nature and society. Some of her most notable works are Uma mão cheia de nada outra de coisa nenhuma (1945), Queres ouvir? Eu conto (1949), Apontamentos (1943), Esta cidade! (1942) and Solidão (1965). She also collaborated with several Portuguese periodicals such as Seara Nova , Vértice , O Diabo , Gazeta Musical e de Todas as Artes , among others. She received several awards and honors for her literary and academic achievements, such as the Prémio Ricardo Malheiros from the Academia das Ciências de Lisboa for Uma mão cheia de nada outra de coisa nenhuma in 1946, the Prémio Nacional de Literatura for Queres ouvir? Eu conto in 1950, the Prémio da Casa da Imprensa for Esta cidade! in 1951, the Prémio Camilo Castelo Branco for Solidão in 1966, and the Commander of the Order of Liberty in 1989. She died on November 25, 1958 in Lisbon, one month before her 66th birthday. Her remains were transferred from the Ajuda Cemetery in Lisbon to the Arruda dos Vinhos Cemetery in 2013.