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Women of the resistance

Maria Clara Correia Alves

1869–1948

Autor desconhecido («O Século»), Public domain

A republican teacher and journalist, she was active in the Republican League of Portuguese Women and in Freemasonry, and edited the publications of the National Council of Portuguese Women: the “Boletim Oficial” (Official Bulletin), from 1914, and the magazine “Alma Feminina” (Feminine Soul), from 1917.

Republicteacherjournalist and editoreditor of the CNMP’s “Boletim Oficial” and “Alma Feminina”freethinker and Freemason
Born
3 May 1869, Montemor-o-Novo (Nossa Senhora do Bispo)
Died
2 February 1948, Lisbon (São Jorge de Arroios)
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Biography

She was born in Montemor-o-Novo in 1869 and settled in Lisbon while still young. She married in 1886, aged 16, in the Church of Santa Catarina, and shortly afterwards began teaching girls on Rua do Poço dos Negros.3 A republican and anticlerical, she joined the Republican League of Portuguese Women before the first decade of the 20th century was out, and worked there with Adelaide Cabete, Carolina Beatriz Ângelo, Maria Veleda, Angélica Viana Porto and Ana de Castro Osório.34 A freethinker, she joined the Portuguese Freethought Federation, where she came across Deolinda Lopes Vieira, and was initiated into Freemasonry in the Humanidade Lodge of the Grande Oriente Lusitano.3

She edited the publications of the National Council of Portuguese Women: the Boletim Oficial (Official Bulletin), whose first issue came out in November 1914, and the magazine Alma Feminina (Feminine Soul), from January 1917.12 In 1920, when the Uruguayan feminist Paulina Luisi was in Lisbon, she spoke at one of the lectures organised in her honour.3

In the 1930s she ran the Municipal Library of Lisbon’s 2nd Bairro (district). She died in 1948, aged 78, at her home at no. 139 Avenida Almirante Reis.3

Notes on the sources2
  • The dates and places of birth, marriage and death come only from Wikipedia, which cites the parish and civil registers.
  • Until when she edited “Alma Feminina”: until 1920, according to Wikipedia; the National Library’s record, which covers the magazine from 1917 to 1946, lists her as editor, without dates.

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Sources4
  1. 1Boletim Oficial do Conselho Nacional das Mulheres Portuguesas, Lisboa, [1914]-1916 (registo). Biblioteca Nacional Digital — consulted on 2 October 2026
  2. 2Alma Feminina: boletim oficial do Conselho Nacional das Mulheres Portuguesas, Lisboa, 1917-1946 (registo). Biblioteca Nacional Digital — consulted on 2 October 2026
  3. 3Maria Clara Correia Alves. Wikipédia (pt) — consulted on 2 October 2026
  4. 4Liga Republicana das Mulheres Portuguesas. Wikipédia (pt) — consulted on 2 October 2026
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