Fernandes (Dona Olímpia Pio)
Original title: Fernandes (D. 0limpia Pio)
Short biography of D. Olímpia Pio Fernandes, a Madeiran woman writer who contributed to newspapers and wrote the drama 'Aldo ou a Filha do Mar' (c. 1877), staged in Funchal to great applause.
This Madeiran lady, who has long lived away from this island, cultivated letters here with brilliance and a well-deserved reputation. She contributed to various newspapers, and around 1877 wrote a drama entitled Aldo ou a Filha do Mar, which was staged in this city and won the greatest applause from the audience. The principal scenes of this drama were published in a Funchal newspaper. Speaking of Dona Olímpia Fernandes, a brilliant woman of letters said: ‘I have read with interest all the other works of this distinguished writer, and either I am much mistaken or she will one day occupy one of the foremost places among the ladies who cultivate letters’.
We do not know whether Dona Olímpia Fernandes continued to cultivate letters or whether she may have published other writings, as her talent and learning would lead one to expect.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 01
- Funchal
City where her drama was performed and where its main scenes were published in a newspaper.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
People
People mentioned · 01-
Madeiran woman of letters, long resident away from the island, who wrote the drama 'Aldo ou a Filha do Mar' staged in Funchal around 1877.