Lisbon Woman: Your Choice

     For my Lisbon woman of choice, I have decided to write about Maria the second. I was able to hear about her from Dr. Hegstrom standing outside The Queen Maria II National Theatre. Maria was the daughter of an emperor and born in Rio de Janeiro. Her father abdicated the Portuguese throne for her, and she became the Queen of Portugal at the young age of 7 years old. She did experience some turmoil growing up as her uncle challenged her position and people tried to take advantage of her. She was well educated though, and traveled around Europe studying.

    Maria's contribution for Portugal was important. She was a strong advocate for education and health, specifically public health standards addressing Cholera. She pushed for educating her people and pushed for easy access to public schooling. Although there was political instability during her time, she strived to implement stability and positive change. She led Portugal to have a more modern society. Her plea for education resulted in higher literacy rates and better opportunities for the Portuguese. These social reforms created gradual improvement in the country and had a significant impact overall!

        To conclude, I think she has been commemorated for sure, but there is room to grow. The theater named after her is right in the middle of a busy town square that acquires a lot of foot traffic. So, tourists and spectators might find themselves drawn to the building and asking about the name. However, I think more physical statues of her around Lisbon would be a better reminder of how much she did for Portugal. I assume they teach about her in schools in Portugal, which helps educate students about her legacy and the role she had in history.



Comments

  1. Anna's Study Abroad 2024May 27, 2024 at 12:39 AM

    Love this! Learning about this woman really deepens our understanding of history because we see how a woman used her power and influence in a great way. She was able to push for those education and health standards like you said. I also feel that we see how much she was respected because they did decide to name a monument after her! 

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  2. EleaseMay 27, 2024 at 12:53 PM

    Queen Maria faced many obstacles throughout her time as queen. She became queen at a very young age and was constantly facing hardships throughout her reign. She fought for the rights of her people. These things do not happen as often today.

    Learning about Queen Maria helps us to learn about how Portugal did things politically and how they chose to govern for many years.

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  3. Betsy JonesMay 27, 2024 at 1:10 PM

    Great post Laynee! Maria II faced so many obstacles from such a young age! I can't imagine becoming queen at only seven years old and then having to fight for your right to rule from your uncle. Even after a civil war she continued to be a great queen to her country and made many contributions that helped everyone not just the rich.

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