Gilka Machado

Gilka Machado (1893–1980) was a Brazilian poet and political activist. She became known as one of the first women to write erotic poetry in Brazil; her work is usually classified as symbolist. Machado was also one of the founders of the Partido Republicano Feminino (Women's Republican Party) in 1910,which advocated for the women's right to vote. The following years, she published the books: A revelação dos perfumes, Estado de alma (1917), Poesias (1915-1917)- (1918) and Mulher Nua, in 1922.

In 1933 she won a contest by the magazine O Malho as the greatest Brazilian woman poet of the 20th century.

Personal life In 1910, Gilka Machado married the poet Rodolfo de Melo Machado (1885-1923), with whom she had two children, Hélios and Heros. Heros would become known as the dancer Eros Volúsia.

Works Cristais partidos [Broken Crystals], 1915 A revelação dos perfumes [A Revelation of Perfumes], 1916 Estado de alma [Condition of the Soul], 1917 Poesias (1915-1917) [Poems (1915-1917)], 1918 Mulher nua [Naked Woman], 1922 Meu glorioso pecado [My Glorious Sin], 1928 Sublimação [Sublimation], 1938 Velha poesia, 1965