Anna Amélia de Mendonça fought alongside other women for women’s suffrage in Brazil

Anna Amélia de Queiroz Carneiro de Mendonça (1896-1971) was the director of the women’s supplement of newspaper Diário de Notícias and she contributed to various other newspapers in Rio de Janeiro, including O Globo, O Jornal and A Noite, as well as O Cruzeiro, a magazine. She was the first woman to serve on the Superior Electoral Court, as a member of the committee that oversaw the 1934 elections. She was the president of the Brazilian Education Association and founder of the Brazilian Students’ House (1929). She introduced the topic of soccer to Brazilian literature in her poem O Salto, published in a book titled Alma. In addition to her work in the area of education, she was the secretary of Hospital Pró-Matre and vice president of the Brazilian Federation for Women’s Progress, where she fought with other women for the right to vote. In 1935, she officially represented Brazil at the 12th International Women’s Congress in Istanbul. In 1942, she was chosen to be Brazil’s representative at the International Women’s Commission, based at the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C. In 1967, she was invited by the government of Israel to represent Brazilian women at the International Women’s Congress for Peace and Development. The poet translated Hamlet and other works by William Shakespeare into Portuguese. She was the author of several books, including Esperanças (1911), Alma (1922), Ansiedade (1926) and Quatro Pedaços do Planeta no Tempo do Zeppelin (1976).