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An old photograph of a young woman with short hair, in a dark gown, sitting on a high-backed chair beside a table on which she rests an open book.

Women of the resistance

Regina Quintanilha

1893–1967

Autor desconhecido, Public domain

Regina da Glória Pinto de Magalhães Quintanilha de Sousa e Vasconcelos

One of the first women to graduate in law in Portugal, she was the first to practise as a lawyer, at the Boa-Hora Court, on 14 November 1913 — five years before the law opened the profession to women.

Republicfirst Portuguese woman lawyercourt solicitorland registrarpresident of the General Assembly of the National Council of Portuguese Women (1917–1919)
Born
9 May 1893, Bragança (Santa Maria)
Died
19 March 1967, Lisbon
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Biography

She was born in Bragança on 9 May 1893.12 In 1910, aged 17, she entered the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, whose University Council had to meet specially to decide on the admission of a woman student.1 She completed the degree in three years.2

With the authorisation of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, she made her debut on 14 November 1913 at the Boa-Hora Court, in Lisbon, defending some women defendants. The newspaper A Luta wrote that she “questioned the witnesses” and spoke “with great brilliance”.1 It was only Decree no. 4676, of 19 July 1918, that allowed women law graduates to practise as lawyers and to work as assistant notaries and registrars.1

She was also the country’s first woman court solicitor and its first woman land registrar.12 In the National Council of Portuguese Women, then chaired by Adelaide Cabete, she was president of the General Assembly from 1917 to 1919.2 She practised law in Portugal, Brazil and the United States until 1957, when she suspended her registration with the Bar Association, and she died in Lisbon on 19 March 1967.1

Notes on the sources3
  • Whether she was the first Portuguese woman notary, as 24 Notícias says, or the second, after Aurora de Castro e Gouveia, as Wikipedia and Toponímia de Lisboa say.
  • Whether she was the first woman to graduate in law in Portugal (24 Notícias) or one of the first, with Maria da Ascensão de Sousa Sampaio (Wikipedia).
  • The dates of her presidency of the General Assembly of the National Council of Portuguese Women (1917–1919) come only from Wikipedia.

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Sources2
  1. 1Regina foi primeira em muita coisa. Incluindo ser a primeira advogada portuguesa a chegar ao tribunal. 24 Notícias (SAPO) — consulted on 2 October 2026
  2. 2Regina Quintanilha. Wikipédia (pt) — consulted on 2 October 2026
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