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Women of the resistance

Alice Pestana

1860–1929

Autor desconhecido, Public domain

Alice Evelina Pestana Coelho

An educationalist and writer, she championed women’s education as a condition for a more democratic society. In 1888, commissioned by the government, she studied women’s secondary education abroad; she chaired the Portuguese Peace League.

Womenwriter and educationalist (pen name Caiel)advocate of secondary education for womenpresident of the Portuguese Peace League
Born
7 April 1860, Santarém
Died
24 December 1929, Madrid
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Biography

She was born in Santarém in 1860. A writer and educationalist, she signed her work as Caiel, Eduardo Caiel, Cil and Célia Elevani, and devoted herself above all to women’s education, which she saw as a condition for a more democratic and just society.1 In 1888 the government commissioned her to visit France, Switzerland and England to study women’s secondary education. Among her works, O Que Deve Ser a Instrução Secundária da Mulher (What Women’s Secondary Education Should Be) stands out.1

She was a member of the Altruist Society — a co-founder, according to Lisbon’s street-naming office (Toponímia de Lisboa); Wikipedia says she joined it after it had been set up by José Pessanha — which gave rise to the Portuguese Peace League, and she chaired the League.12 She later lived in Spain, linked to the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, and died in Madrid in 1929.12 Since 1988 a street in Bairro de Caselas, in Lisbon, has borne her name.1

Notes on the sources3
  • Se foi cofundadora da Sociedade Altruísta (Toponímia de Lisboa) ou se entrou para ela depois de criada por José Pessanha (Wikipédia).
  • Se a Liga Portuguesa da Paz foi a primeira organização feminista portuguesa, como diz a Wikipédia; a Toponímia de Lisboa não o afirma, e a Dignipédia Global chama-lhe «incubadora» do movimento feminista e à sua Secção Feminina (1906) «uma das primeiras expressões» dele.
  • Os lugares de Lisboa ligados à sua vida e ao seu trabalho: as fontes não dão moradas.

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Sources4
  1. 1Numa Rua de Caselas, Alice Pestana da causa da educação das mulheres. Toponímia de Lisboa (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa) — consulted on 2 October 2026
  2. 2Alice Pestana. Wikipédia (pt) — consulted on 2 October 2026
  3. 3Teresa Nunes, Liga Republicana das Mulheres Portuguesas (1909). Dignipédia Global — Dicionário Global — consulted on 4 October 2026A Liga foi delineada em agosto de 1908 (António José de Almeida e Ana de Castro Osório) e formada em fevereiro de 1909; a Liga Portuguesa da Paz foi fundada por Alice Pestana e Magalhães Lima em maio de 1899.
  4. 4Renato Pistola, Liga Portuguesa da Paz (1899) [Dicionário Global]. Dignipédia Global — consulted on 4 October 2026Fundada formalmente a 18 de maio de 1899, dia da abertura da Conferência da Paz de Haia, por impulso de Alice Pestana, sua fundadora e primeira presidente; a Secção Feminina formalizou-se em 1906.
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