Maria Antónia Palla -- Voice of Portuguese Women

In 1960s Portugal, the newsroom was a male world – a closed club where women were not admitted. Maria Antónia Palla did not merely enter that world; she changed it, proving that a woman journalist’s voice could sound louder than the chorus of prejudices of an entire era.

Early Years in Setúbal District (1933)

Maria Antónia Palla was born on 10 January 1933 in Seixal – a town in the Setúbal District (Distrito de Setúbal), on the southern bank of the Tagus, opposite Lisbon. She was born in the house of her paternal grandparents.

Palla’s family was atheist, republican, and communist in outlook. Her paternal grandparents were republicans and freemasons. Her father, Italo Ferrer dos Santos, was the first in the family never to be baptised. Her mother was Angelina Painço de Assis.

Seixal in the first half of the 20th century was an industrial and fishing town, closely linked to Setúbal both economically and culturally. Both cities shared a similar identity – working-class, port-based, with strong left-wing traditions and an established labour movement. The environment in which Maria Antónia grew up shaped her social sensitivity and interest in problems of inequality.

Palla graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (Faculdade de Letras) in 1953. After graduating she married Orlando da Costa, a writer of Goan origin.

Breaking Into Journalism (1960s)

The First Women in Newsrooms

In 1968, Maria Antónia Palla joined the first group of women admitted to the newsroom of Diário Popular – one of Lisbon’s major daily newspapers. This was a historic moment: until then, Portuguese journalism had remained an exclusively male profession. Women could write for “women’s pages” or run columns on fashion and cooking, but full editorial work – reporting, investigations, political analysis – was considered men’s business.

Career at O Século

Palla subsequently moved to the newspaper O Século and its illustrated supplement O Século Ilustrado. There she became the first woman on the editorial staff, gradually rising through the ranks to the position of editor-in-chief – an achievement unprecedented for a woman in the Portuguese press of the time.

Palla’s work was distinguished by:

• Social engagement – she wrote about poverty, illiteracy, and working conditions
• Courage – under the censorship of the Estado Novo regime, she found ways to raise forbidden topics
• Professionalism – her journalistic skill left no room for accusations of “feminine frivolity”

Union Activity

Maria Antónia Palla became the first woman member of the Portuguese Journalists’ Union (Sindicato dos Jornalistas). She was later elected vice-president of the union – yet another post that no woman had held before her.

Her union work was directed towards:

• Equal access for women to newsroom positions
• Fighting discrimination in pay and career opportunities
• Defending press freedom – especially relevant in the final years of the dictatorship and the transition period after the Carnation Revolution

“Nome Mulher”: Television as a Weapon (1974–1976)

The Carnation Revolution and New Possibilities

On 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution brought the Estado Novo dictatorship to an end. With political freedom came freedom of speech – for the first time in half a century, Portuguese society could openly discuss previously taboo subjects.

Maria Antónia Palla seized the opportunity at once. Together with Antónia de Sousa, she created for the state broadcaster RTP the programme “Nome Mulher” (“Name: Woman”).

Content and Significance

“Nome Mulher” became the first feminist television programme in Portugal. Over its run it produced 46 episodes of 50 minutes each. The programme:

• Documented the real lives of Portuguese women – from peasant women in the Alentejo to factory workers in Setúbal
• Discussed legal inequality – restrictions on property rights, child custody, divorce
• Raised the subject of domestic violence – for the first time on Portuguese television
• Gave a voice to women who had until then been invisible in public space
• Provoked public debate on the role of women in society

The programme sparked fierce controversy. Conservative circles accused the creators of “destroying family values” and “propagating immorality.” The progressive section of society, by contrast, saw in “Nome Mulher” an instrument of necessary social change.

The Fight for Abortion Legalisation

One of the central causes of Palla’s public activity was the fight for the legalisation of abortion in Portugal. In a country where the Catholic Church’s influence remained enormous even after the revolution, this was one of the most contentious issues.

Palla consistently advocated for women’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies and reproductive health. Her position was grounded in:

• Journalistic experience – she documented the tragedies of illegal abortions that cost women their lives
• Social justice – wealthy women could afford to travel abroad, while poor women risked their health and lives
• Legal analysis – comparison with the legislation of other European countries

The pivotal episode was the broadcast of “Aborto não é Crime” (“Abortion Is Not a Crime”) in February 1976 as part of “Nome Mulher.” For this programme Palla was charged by the prosecution with offending public morality and incitement to crime. The programme was taken off the air — ironically, the decision was made by the then president of RTP, who was Palla’s husband. The trial took place in 1979, and Palla was acquitted. In 1985 she became president of the League for Women’s Rights (Liga dos Direitos das Mulheres) and continued the fight for reproductive rights.

The legalisation of abortion in Portugal came only in 2007, after a second referendum. Palla was among those who had fought for this right for decades.

Context: Setúbal’s Feminist Movement

Maria Antónia Palla was part of a broad feminist movement whose roots in the Setúbal district run deep. Among her predecessors was Ana de Castro Osório, Portugal’s first feminist, who lived in Setúbal and formed her social consciousness there.

It is important to note that Palla was not directly involved in the “Three Marias” case (Novas Cartas Portuguesas, 1972) – the trial of three women writers that became a symbol of the struggle for freedom of speech and women’s rights in the final years of the dictatorship. She was, however, part of the same broad feminist movement and maintained connections with its participants.

Recognition

On 13 February 2025, President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa personally honoured Maria Antónia Palla at the Belém Palace, awarding her the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of Liberty (Grande-Oficial da Ordem da Liberdade). Marcelo called it “long-overdue justice.” Palla was also awarded the Gazeta de Mérito Prize (Prémio Gazeta de Mérito) for her outstanding journalistic career.

Legacy

Maria Antónia Palla left a mark that extends far beyond journalism:

• Opened the door for generations of women journalists in Portugal
• Set a precedent for women’s presence in professional associations and in editorial leadership positions
• Used television as an instrument of social change, long before the age of “new media”
• Documented the lives of ordinary Portuguese women, preserving for history voices that would otherwise have been forgotten

Her journey – from a girl in industrial Seixal to vice-president of the journalists’ union and creator of the first feminist television programme – is a story not only of personal achievement but of the transformation of an entire society.

See also

• Ana de Castro Osório – Pioneer of Feminism
• Carnation Revolution and Setúbal
• Fishing Culture of Setúbal
• Modern Setúbal