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Florbela Espanca

Poet: 1894 – 1930

Florbela Espanca (birth name Flor Bela de Alma da Conceição), Portuguese poet (Vila Viçosa, 8 December 1894 — Matosinhos, 8 December de 1930). Precursor of the feminist movement in Portugal, had a tumultuous and eventful life that shaped her writings, finely imbued of erotism and femininity.

Daughter of Antónia da Conceição Lobo, she was baptised as child of father incognito. Upon the death of her mother in 1908, she is taken into the care of Maria Espanca and João Maria Espanca, to whom Antónia had worked as a maid. João Maria Espanca, who always provided for Florbela (she referred to him in a poem as "dear Daddy of my soul"), recognised paternity only 19 years after her death.

The earliest known poem written by the hand of Florbela, A Vida e a Morte (Life and Death), dates back to 1903. Her first marriage, to Alberto Moutinho, was celebrated on her birthday, in 1913. Graduating in Literature in 1917, she enrolled in Law, becoming the first woman to follow this course of study at the University of Lisbon.

Suffered a miscarriage in 1919, the year that would see the publication of Livro de Mágoas. Florbela experiences at this time the first serious symptoms of mental illness. In 1921 divorces her first husband and lives through the social prejudice decurrent of that condition. António Guimarães would become her second husband in the following year.

The work Livro de Sóror Saudade is published in 1923. Florbela suffers a second miscarriage, after which her husband initiates divorce procedures. In 1925 marries one last time, to Mário Lage. Her brother Apeles Espanca would encounter premature death in an airplane accident, event that affects her profoundly and inspires the writing of As Máscaras do Destino.

Florbela attempts suicide on two occasions, in October and November of 1930, shortly before her master-piece Charneca em Flor was published. Being diagnosed a pulmonary edema, Florbela died on 8th December 1930, her birthday. Her precarious health and complex mental condition make the actual cause of death a question to this day. Charneca em Flor would be published in January 1931.

IN: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/reference/florbela_espanca

Links

Biography: http://www.vidaslusofonas.pt/florbela_espanca2.htm