Velho Da Costa, Maria (1938–)
Velho Da Costa, Maria (1938–)
Portuguese writer and feminist. Name variations: The Three Marias. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, June 26, 1938; granted degree in German philology from University of London; married with children.
Taught in high school; employed in the National Institute of Industrial Research; with Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Isabel Barreno, wrote and published Novas Cartas Portuguesas (The New Portuguese Letters, 1972), which led the modern feminist literary movement in Portugal and achieved notoriety because of the government's attempt to suppress the work; arrested on charges of pornography and offenses against public morality, went on trial as one of the "The Three Marias," as they became known internationally (1971–74); following the ousting of the Portuguese dictatorship, was declared innocent with all charges dismissed (1974); won the City of Lisbon Prize for novel Casas Pardas (1977); shared the D. Dinis Prize for her Lucialima (1983).
See also The Three Marias: New Portuguese Letters (trans. by Helen R. Lane, Doubleday, 1975); and Women in World History.