Maria Peregrina de Souza

Maria Peregrina de Souza (13 February 1809 – 16 November 1894), was a Portuguese novelist, poet and folklorist. She published much of her work under the pseudonyms Uma Obscura Portuense and Mariposa, as well as the initials DMP or DMPS.

Biography Maria Peregrina was born in Porto, on Rua dos Caldeireiros, the daughter of António Ventura de Azevedo (1784–1856), a silk merchant, and Maria Margarida de Souza Neves (died 1833). She had a sister, Maria do Patrocínio de Souza (1823–1864), also a writer, and a brother, António Mateus de Azevedo e Sousa. Her baptismal name was Maria de Sousa, but her uncle added Peregrina (in English: Pilgrim) to her name because of her family's movements because of the Siege of Porto during the French Invasions.

In 1856, her father died In 1963 she published Rhadamanto or A Mana do Conde, and Roberta or A Força da Simpatia, the latter having been published since 1948 in the newspaper Pobres do Porto. In 1866 she published Maria Isabel, previously published in the magazine Esperança, and in 1876 Henriqueta, which had also been published in serial form in 1850, in the newspaper Pirata.

After her sister's death, Maria Peregrina moved in with two friends, Maria Augusta de Carvalho Miranda and Rita de Cássia de Carvalho Miranda, in Porto where she remained for the rest of her life.

She is considered a pioneer of Portuguese ethnography, because of her documentary work on Azorean and Minho folklore. The latter was called Popular Traditions of Minho.

Maria Peregrina de Sousa died in Porto on 16 November 1894, on Rua de Santa Catarina. She was buried in Porto's Agramonte Cemetery of the Carmelites.

Selected works

1859 – Patchwork of the world 1863 – Rhadamanto or The Count's Sister 1864 – Roberta or The Power of Sympathy 1866 – Maria Isabel 1876 – Henrietta Farm Popular Traditions of Minho