Emília Eduarda

Emília Eduarda Augusta Cruz, better known as Emília Eduarda (1843 —1908), was a Portuguese actress, poet, playwright, and writer who performed on most of the major stages in Lisbon and Porto.

Early life Eduarda was born on 1 January 1843 in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, in the former parish of Anjos, the daughter of unknown parents. The record of her baptism, which took place seven months after her birth, only states that she was taken to the church by Maria Joaquina, wife of António Luís, who had received the baby from a midwife named Maria do Carmo. Little is known about Eduarda's childhood. At the age of just thirteen, she married Manuel Luís de Sousa who was in the military and came from Lisbon, with a mother from the Azores.

Theatrical career Eduarda began her artistic career at the age of 14, as an amateur actress, at the Teatro Terpsicore, successfully playing roles of different genres in the comedies Homem de Ouro, in 3 acts, by , Útil e Agradável and Moleira de Marly, both in one act. Her husband was posted to the Portuguese colony of São Tomé Island, where he died in 1859, making her a widow at sixteen.

After this tour she returned to mainland Portugal, settling in Porto, where she performed dramas, comedies and farces while working with several different companies. Particularly notable were her performances in Thérèse Raquin, by Émile Zola, Le Médecin malgré lui by Molière, and La Poupée by Maurice Ordonneau. Eduarda was a regular presence on the stages of the Teatro Baquet, Teatro Carlos Alberto and Teatro do Príncipe Real. In 1895, she accompanied the company of the impresario, Afonso Taveira, to Brazil. An obituary in the newspaper, O Occidente, read: "The actress Emilia Eduarda is one of the most brilliant figures in the history of Portuguese theatre, for how much she distinguished herself in it." Eduarda's name was given to a street in the parish of Penha de França in Lisbon and to one in Charneca de Caparica.