Preta Fernanda

Andrêsa do Nascimento (1859 27 August 1927), known as Preta Fernanda, was a courtesan and celebrated society figure in fin de siècle Lisbon. She was also known as Fernanda do Vale (her pen name). She was, perhaps, the best known black citizen of the city in that period.

Fernanda was born to poor parents in a small village near Ribeira da Barca on the island of Santiago in Cape Verde, probably in 1859. It is possible, therefore, that one or both of Fernanda's parents were enslaved when she was born or had been enslaved.

When she was about 19, she sailed away from the small Atlantic island in the company of a ship's captain, Jerónimo Martins, who promised her marriage, but abandoned her once they arrived in Dakar, on the African coast. She subsequently married a German beer maker, Frederick "Fritz" Kemps, who took her to Lisbon, and with whom she had twins. According to some sources her husband died; others say he was habitually drunk and abandoned her.

She found steadier work in 1889 as a lady's maid for a high society woman, a member of the influential Cavalcanti family.

In 1912 Fernanda published an autobiography, Recordações d'uma Colonial (Recollections of a Colonial Subject), written with help from two friends. The memoir tells the story of her life in Cape Verde and Portugal, but the authors sometimes forsook accuracy in favor of a more exciting story. She diligently recorded all of the men who had shared her bed (but not their true names), and in the final chapter offered candid commentary on each man's sexual performance. A modern reader notes that, in today's context, the language of the book is racist and reflects stereotypes of its time.

Little is known of her life after 1912. Fernanda died in Lisbon on 20 August 1927.