Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen Biography

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (November 6, 1919 in Porto – July 2, 2004 in Lisbon) was an award-winning Portuguese poet and writer. In 2014, she was unanimously chosen by the Parliament with National Pantheon honours, the second woman to be so honored, after Amália Rodrigues.

Sophia, as she is often referred to in Portugal, was born in Porto to a wealthy aristocratic family. She inherited the surname 'Andresen' from her paternal great grandfather, a Danish merchant. She received a strict Catholic upbringing, and was to remain a fervent believer until the end of her life. After spending her childhood in Porto she moved to Lisbon, where she attended the Universidade de Lisboa. As a student, she was actively involved in Catholic movements. Politically, she defended constitutional monarchy and openly criticized Salazar's dictatorship. In 1946 she married lawyer and politician Francisco Sousa Tavares. They had five children, among whom is journalist and best-selling author Miguel Sousa Tavares. After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, she made a brief incursion into politics as an MP for the Socialist Party (centre-left).