Efigénia do Carvalhal

Defying all odds, Efigénia do Carvalhal is one of the most prolific self-taught women writers of her time, especially within the Iberian Peninsula.

by Caroline Cundick

Biography

Born to Portuguese Civil War veteran Júlio do Carvalhal de Sousa Silveira Teles Pereira e Menezes, Efigénia do Carvalhal had noble roots and was raised in the countryside of Veiga de Lila. Although her rural upbringing limited her access to formal education, she saw her father write for periodicals and taught herself to do the same. She collaborated in two volumes of A Esperança, writing both prose and poetry. Two of her works, Clotilde and A Casa Negra were independently published later.

Efigénia married Francisco Moraes Teixeira Pimentel in 1876 and they had two children, who both died in infancy.