Lisbon women: Maria II of Portugal
One woman that stood out to me in Lisbon was Queen Maria II of Portugal. She was born in Brazil to Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil. Her Father became King of Portugal but her turn over that title to Maria when she was only seven. He made an agreement with his brother that the brother would marry Maria when she old enough but the brother removed her and declare himself King. She later got her title back (wikipedia). In class, I learn that she had a strong stance for public health and she fought for a better public health standard. She also push for education to be available for everyone no matter their status. One thing I admire about her was that she loved her country and wanted a to make Portugal a better place.
What did Maria II of Portugal contribute to Lisbon? Like I said in the paragraph before this, she cared about public health and about people access to education. One thing I would like to point out was that she was named the Queen at age seven. The people of Portugal has watched and helped her grow up. They knew the kind of Queen they were getting and she wanted to give back to the country who raised her. For public health, "she focused at stopping these spread of cholera through Portugal". For Education, she pushed for the country to allow access to higher level of education for people. She pushed for a better country.
I don't think she was commemorated well because she only has one thing named after her. She has a theater dedicated to her called the National Theater Dona Maria II. Maria wanted a place "that would hold dramatic art" and she command Almeida Garret to build it. Its first opening didn't do well but the 2nd opening was a success (the Lisbon Connection). Honestly I think she deserve a statue next to the theater so people can make the connection to her. That still doesn't celebrate her achievement to society as being the Queen of Portugal. She did so much for public health and education and deserve to be known for that.
Awesome post Audrey! I like how you said that Maria II is important to Lisbon's culture for a few reasons. First because she built the national theater and named it after herself. She also has a statue of her close by. She also promoted public health and education and her history enriches Lisbon as a cultural capital.
ReplyDelete