Maria Tomasia Figueira Lima

Maria Tomásia Figueira Lima was a Brazilian aristocrat and abolitionist. She was born on December 6, 1826, in Sobral, a municipality in the interior of Ceará. She belonged to the traditional families Figueira de Melo, Xerez and Viriato de Medeiros. She moved to Fortaleza after marrying the abolitionist Francisco de Paula de Oliveira Lima. In 1882, together with twenty-two abolitionist women of prominent families, she participated in the founding of the Sociedade das Senhoras Libertadoras ou Cearenses Libertadoras, a group which was the first of its kind in the country that was formed and led exclusively by women. She served as president of the organization whose objective was to fight for the abolition of slavery. She was also involved in other abolitionist activities, such as raising funds, buying and freeing slaves, and providing shelter and education for the freedmen. She was considered one of the most influential women in the abolitionist movement in Ceará, along with Elvira Pinho, Francisca Nunes da Cruz, and Carolina Cordeiro. She died in 1902, in Fortaleza, at an unknown date. She is remembered as a pioneer of women's participation in social and political causes in Brazil.