Maria Barroso

Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares, GCL (2 May 1925 – 7 July 2015) was a Portuguese politician and actress,  wife of President of Portugal Mario Soares and First Lady of Portugal between 1986 and 1996.

Biography
Barroso was the daughter of military Alfredo José Barroso from Alvor, in Algarve, and Maria da Encarnação Simões, from Fuseta, Olhão, also in the Portuguese region of Algarve.

While at university, she performed in the National Theatre for four years but was later removed as a result of her political positions as member of the Democratic Opposition to the regime of Antonio Salazar. Even though qualified to do so, during the regimes of Salazar and Marcelo Caetano, she was forbidden to teach, even in private schools.

Maria Barroso married her university colleague Mario Soares in 1949 at the 3rd Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon, while he was in the Aljube prison. They had one son, politician João Soares, born 1949, and a daughter, Isabel Barroso Soares, born 1951, who manages the Colégio Moderno in Lisbon.

Although not as politically involved as her husband, Maria Barroso was a founding member of the Socialist Party in Bad Münstereifel, Germany in 1973. She was the President of the Aristides Sousa Mendes Foundation, the Pro Dignitate Association and the head of the Portuguese Red Cross for several years.

Maria Barroso had a degree in Historical and Philosophical Sciences from the Faculty of Arts, Lisbon and the course of Dramatic Arts from the National Conservatory. She was a member of the Portuguese National Theater Company and one of the most famous theater and cinema actresses in Portugal. In April 2000 she read the poetry of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at the United Nations in New York in homage to Aristides Sousa Mendes. She was involved in activities aimed at supporting the areas of culture, education and family, childhood, social solidarity, female dimension, health, the integration of the disabled and the prevention of violence.

Illness and death
On 25 June 2015, Maria Barroso came under medical care at Lisbon’s Red Cross Hospital after falling at home. She was transported to the hospital by her nephew Eduardo Barroso, a well-known hepato-biliary surgeon, walking in by her own foot. An initial CT scan revealed nothing serious; however, her condition worsened during the subsequent hours, and new exams revealed an extensive intracranial hemorrhage. She entered a deep coma, and Eduardo Barroso classified the situation as "critical" and "most likely irreversible". She died in the morning of 7 July 2015.

National honours

 * Portugal
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal: Recipient of the Red Cross Medal
 * Portuguese Royal Family: Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Saint Isabel

Foreign honours

 * 🇧🇷 Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco (25 July 1989)
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria: 1st Class of the Order of the Rose (26 October 1994)
 * 🇨🇴 Colombia: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (8 January 1991)
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark: Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (3 August 1992)
 * 🇫🇮 Finland: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (8 March 1991)
 * 🇫🇷 France: Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (7 May 1990)
 * 🇩🇪 Germany: Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (9 January 1991)
 * 🇬🇷 Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (17 May 1983)
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary: First Class of the Order of the Flag of the People's Republic of Hungary (25 November 1982)
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (9 January 1990)
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco: Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (20 February 1995)
 * 🇪🇸 Spain: Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (30 March 1988)
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star (28 January 1987)
 * 🇻🇪 Venezuela: Grand Cross of the Order of Francisco de Miranda (18 November 1987)
 * Zaire: Grand Collar of the National Order of Zaire (4 December 1989)

Awards

 * Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Aveiro
 * Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Lisbon
 * Doctor Honoris Causa by Lesley College, Boston
 * Honorary Professor of the Society of International Studies, Madrid
 * Award "Impegno Per La Pace" of the Association Insieme per la Pace, Rome
 * Award "Beca" by the Colégio Mayor Zurbaran, Madrid
 * Gold Medal for Distinct Service from the League of Portuguese Firemen
 * Medal of Solidarity from CNAF
 * Silver Medal of the Alcuin Award
 * Gold Medal from FERLAP
 * Gold Medal from the City of Ovar
 * Gold Medal from the City of Olhão
 * Gold Medal from the City of Faro
 * Personality of the Year 1998 in the area of solidarity by the Magazine Revista Gente e Viagem
 * Algarvia (lady from the Algarve region) of the Year 1997 by the Association of the Algarve’s Regional Press
 * Most Elegant Woman of the Year 1998 – Magazine Revista VIP
 * Neckband of the International Academy of Portuguese Culture
 * “One in ten women of the year 1999” Prize – Brazil
 * D. Antónia Ferreira Prize
 * Prestige Prize
 * “Manus Cais” Trophy
 * “Lonely Life” Prize – Radio Central FM, Leiria