Archer, Maria (1905—)
Archer, Maria (1905—)
Portuguese author. Born in 1905 in Portugal.
Selected works:
Ida e Volta duma Caixa de Cigarros (Round Trip of a Cigarette Box, 1938); Casa Sem Pão (House Without Bread, 1946); Há de Haver una Lei (There Ought to be a Law, 1949); Os Últimos Dias do Fascismo Português (The Last Days of Portuguese Fascism, 1961).
Despite her status as a popular and prolific writer in Portugal, little is written about Maria Archer in either histories or anthologies. The prime of her career coincided with the dictatorship of António Salazar, of whom Archer was critical, and it is assumed that Salazar's regime prevented the dissemination of much information about the author. Archer's primary concern was the subjugation of women in an authoritarian society, an opinion she made clear in nonfiction like Os Últimos Dias do Fascismo Português (The Last Days of Portuguese Fascism, 1961), published in Brazil, and fiction like Casa Sem Pão (House Without Bread, 1946), which was banned in Portugal. Her writing has included novels, short fiction, essays, and drama.
Crista Martin , Boston, Massachusetts