Abigail de Paiva Cruz

Abigail de Paiva Cruz (1883 - 1944) was a Portuguese naturalist painter, sculptor, lace maker and feminist activist.

Early life Abigail de Paiva Cruz was born in the parish of Cedofeita in the Portuguese city of Porto, on 28 April 1883. She was the daughter of Albino José da Cruz and Teresa de Castro e Paiva Cruz, who were both from progressive, affluent families. Her father died when she was just 4 years old but her mother was able to provide her with an education at a time when the teaching of women was not encouraged. She had two brothers, one of whom died at the age of two months.

Studies Paiva Cruz joined the Porto Academy of Fine Arts, becoming a student of the painter João Marques de Oliveira and sculptor António Teixeira Lopes. She then studied in Paris, meeting, among others, the writer and poet Alphonse Métérié, with whom he maintained a long friendship by correspondence. In 1910 she began to expand her portfolio and experiment with new media, including through the art of embroidery and lace, which stood out because of her use of Portuguese motifs. where the proceeds from the sales of her works were given to the Portuguese Women's Crusade, a feminist charity that supported those suffering from the consequences of the war. The exhibition was widely reported.

Death Abigail de Paiva Cruz died in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on 8 October 1944, of enteritis. She did not marry and had no children. She was buried in the Agramonte Cemetery in Porto, where there was a family tomb.