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Virginia de Castro e Almeida
Virginia de Castro e Almeida (née Virgínia Folque de Castro e Almeida Pimentel Sequiera e Abreu) was born in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 24, 1874. She is remembered for being a pioneer in Portuguese children’s literature, translating important cultural texts, and as being a film director and founding her own film company, Fortuna Films.

Early Life and Education
Virgínia de Castro e Almeida came from a family of aristocrats, and took an interest in writing at the young age of 8. She began by writing dramatic stories, and in later years would dedicate herself to writing books for children.

In Literature
In 1894, she started publishing her works under the pen-name Gy. Her first publication under this name was called “Fada Tendora” (“The Tempting Fairy”), and is considered to be a pioneer work in children’s literature for Portugal. In 1907, a collection of her various works was published entitled “Biblioteca para meus Filhos” (“Library For My Children”) under the Livarario Clássica Editoria. Virginia de Castro e Almeida, concerned with women’s education, published books about housekeeping and children, “Como Devo Governar a Minha Casa“ (“How to Run my Household”) in 1906, and “Como Devemos Criar e Educar os Nossos Filhos” (“How to Manage my Children’s Education”) in 1908. She also desired to teach children science in a fun and easy way and published several books towards that goal starting in 1907 such as: “Céu Aberto” (“Open Skies”) (1907), “Em Pleno Azul” (“Full Blue”) (1907), “Pela Terra e pelo Ar” (“For The Earth and Air”) (1911), and “As Lições de André” (“Lessons with André”) (1913).

In 1918, Virginia moved to France and Switzerland, where she lived for a long time. She helped to spread and promote Portuguese literature through translating the works of important figures such as João de Barros and Garcia de Resende e Camões. Other translated works also includes historical topics dealing with Portuguese settlers, Henry the Navigator, Marcus Aurelius, Cervantes, Charles Dickens, George Sand, and others during the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Also at this time, de Almeida realised the benefit of using scientific news in children’s books, writing a series for youth to encourage their imagination of history with books such as “História de Dona Redonda e da sua Gente” (“History of Dona Redonda and her People”) (1942) and “de Aventuras de Dona Redonda” (“The Adventures of Dona Redonda”) (1943).

In Government
While in Geneva, de Almeida was employed under the League of Nations under the Salazar government. She also wrote books for the Secretariat of National Propaganda which were for historical dissemination and introduced values and plans for the New State of Portugal which was emerging at the time.

In Film
In 1922, Virgínia founded Fortuna Films and became a producer due to her passion in cinematography. Fortuna Films headquarters was based in Paris in her own house at Rue Monmatre, while the Portuguese office was based in Lisbon at Rue de S. Bento near another film company. A prolific film director, Roger Lion, was hired by de Almeida, and the company produced only two films before either party could prove to sustain their short-lived venture. She cites one reason for founding her own film company thusly: "Portuguese films up until now are not perfect. Sometimes the action drags, it was boring for people that were used to seeing beauty and art, listening to music made specifically for what they were seeing".

A Sereia de Pedra
A blacksmith living in the town of Tomar, part of a colony of Portugal, is good friends with a bullfighter named Antonio.

Ohlos da Alma
In the town of Nazaré, two classes exist: one is the more important Diogo de Sousa and his family who are the boat owners. The other are the fishermen of lower means who send their trawlers out to sea tirelessly under the responsibility of António Dias, a man hardened by the ocean and respected by his fellow fishermen. Diogo is an ambitious and unscrupulous man, and unleashed an insurrection between the classes. He seeks refuge in his friend Rodrigo de Meneses’ house, and quickly becomes attached to his daughter Isolda. There, he learns a terrible secret after Rodrigo’s death which he uses to influence Isolda to marry him. Others hear word of these events, and Diogo must run once again. The shock weighs heavily on Isolda who was in love with her cousin Alvaro. These dramatic events set the stage for the film.

Reception and Controversy
This film is credited as putting the town of Nazaré onto the map of Portuguese cinema. It was the first movie that brought the political situation of Portugal in the first quarter of the 21st century to light, and almost caused a civil war during those last few years of Portugal’s First Republic.

Ohlos da Alma was screened in Portugal, Brazil, and France, and had received much criticism within Portugal. This greatly affected Virgínia de Castro e Almeida. She complained about the numerous changes that Roger Lion had made to the film, and she felt conflicted over these matters. The controversy surrounding the film resulted in the loss of interest in and bankruptcy of Fortuna Films, marking the death of Virgínia’s film career.

Other Notable Achievements
Virginia e Castro de Almeida had an interest in the cinema, and in 1920, created a prize of 5 million francs which would be awarded to the best film made in France of the year.

Death
Virginia e Castro de Almeida died January 22, 1945 in Lisbon, Portugal.