Timeline
1920
Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso was born in Fuzeta, Olhão. Daughter of Maria de Encarnação Simões, a primary school teacher, and Alfredo José Barroso, an army officer who opposed the dictatorship.
1930
The family moves to Lisbon.
Maria Barroso starts attending the Dona Felipa de Lencastre High School.
1940
She finishes the Dramatic Art course at the National Conservatory Theatre School, having obtained the highest classification of her year.
She made his stage debut with the play ‘His Excellency the Thief’ at the Gymnasium Theatre.
Meets Mário Soares, also a student at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, who would later become her husband.
Maria Barroso made her professional theatre debut in the play ‘Sua Excelência, o Ladrão’, at the Ginásio Theatre, with the Brunilde Júdice Alves Company. That same year, he also made his debut at the D. Maria II National Theatre in the play ‘Auto da pastora perdida e da velha gaiteira’, by Santiago Prezado.
She is called in by the Portuguese security agency (PIDE) for various interrogations about her activities.
Maria Barroso stars in the play ‘Benilde ou a Virgem-Mãe’, by José Régio, at the D. Maria II National Theatre.
Her performance in Frederico Garcia Lorca's ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ led the regime to ban her from continuing to act.
Tooks part in General Norton de Matos campaign for the Presidency of the Republic.
Maria Barroso and Mário Soares married by proxy in the Aljube prison, where Soares was being held. The best men at the wedding were Joaquim Barradas de Carvalho, Ruth Arons, Bá and Manuel Mendes, the latter of whom was also imprisoned.
1950
Finishes her Historical-Philosophical Sciences degree at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, with a thesis entitled Valentim Fernandes e a sua obra ("Valentim Fernandes and his work").
Tooks an active part in General Humberto Delgado's presidential campaign.
Maria Barroso sees her application for a private teaching licence rejected.
1960
Mário Soares dedicated a poem to her, written while he was imprisoned in Aljube Prison.
Maria Barroso plays Sophocles' “Antigone” at the Villaret Theatre.
She stars in the film ‘Mudar de Vida’, directed by Paulo Rocha, playing Júlia, a woman from the sea.
She takes to the stage to perform Jean Cocteau's monologue ‘The Human Voice’. The play is banned by the regime and is his last theatre performance.
Maria Barroso ran in the 1969 legislative elections for CEUD (Comissão Eleitoral de Unidade Democrática) in the district of Santarém.
1970
Maria Barroso ran the Colégio Moderno in Lisbon before and after 25 April 1974.
She was the only woman to speak at the opening of the Third Congress of the Democratic Opposition in Aveiro, where she said that ‘there is no softening of repression: there is a rationalisation of that repression, a more efficient distribution from the point of view of the oppressors, and therefore more brutal’.
She was the only woman present at the founding congress of the Socialist Party in Bad Münstereifel, Germany.
Maria Barroso returns to Portugal after the 25th of April on the ‘freedom train’.
She took part in the film ‘Benilde ou A Virgem Mãe’, directed by Manoel de Oliveira.
She carried out intense party activity, speaking at congresses and taking part in rallies and information sessions.
Barroso is elected to the Portuguese Parliament for the Socialist Party.
She was also elected vice-president of the Parliamentary Education Committee.
Maria Barroso is part of the cast of the film ‘Amor de Perdição: Memórias de uma Família’, directed by Manoel de Oliveira.
She is re-elected as a member of parliament for Porto.
1980
Maria Barroso is re-elected to the Portuguese Parliament for the Socialist Party.
First Lady of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.
1990
She helps found the Mozambique Emergency Movement.
Creates the Association for the Study and Prevention of Violence - APEV.
Maria Barroso created and chairs the Pro Dignitate Foundation, with the aim of preventing violence and promoting human rights.
She received an honorary doctorate from Lesley University in the United States.
The University of Abeiro awarded her an honorary doctorate.
Maria Barroso is honoured with the Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty.
She takes over the presidency of the Portuguese Red Cross.
She receives an honorary doctorate from the University of Lisbon.
2000
The book Poems of My Life is published.
Maria Barroso's book Red Cross is published.
2010
She received an honorary doctorate from Lusófona University.
Maria Barroso's book Violence in the media is published.
Maria de Jesus Barroso dies in Lisbon, aged 90.
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