Residence Belém Palace Formation 5 October 1910 | Inaugural holder Lucrécia de Arriaga | |
Term length 5 Years (10 years if the President wins re-election) Website Presidency of the Portuguese Republic - First Lady | ||
The First Lady of Portugal is the title attributed to the wife of the President of Portugal. To date, there has been no First Gentleman of Portugal. The First Lady position is currently vacant, since the incumbent President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is not married.
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History
The inaugural First Lady of Portugal was Lucrécia de Arriaga (1911–1915), wife of the first President of the First Portuguese Republic, Manuel de Arriaga.
Maria Joana Perdigão de Almeida, Portugal's First Lady from 1919 to 1923 and the wife of President António José de Almeida, was one of the country's first First Ladies to take on public, ceremonial roles. She took on a very public role in 1920 as the hostess during the official state visit of Leopold III of Belgium, the then-heir to the Belgian throne, in 1920. By contrast, Almeida's successor, Belmira das Neves, First Lady from 1923 to 1925, largely avoided the public spotlight, but played a supporting role to her husband, Manuel Teixeira Gomes, behind the scenes.
Public interest
In 2005, an exhibit on the history of Portugal's First Ladies, called Primeiras-Damas da Republica Portuguesa 1910-2005 (Portuguese First Ladies Exhibition 1910-2005), opened at the IADE Cultural Centre in Lisbon. The exhibition, which encompassed two entire floors of the IADE's cultural centre, included documents, clothing, gowns, jewelry, and letters once owned by Portugal's First Ladies.
Items on display included former First Lady Maria Helena de Barroso Spinola's black evening gown and 1920s-era clothing, fans and furs worn by Maria das Dores Cabeçada, the First Lady in 1926. Pieces from Maria José Ritta, who was First Lady at the time of the 2005 exhibition, included lemon yellow Dior-style suit worn during her employment at TAP Portugal during the 1970s, as well as clothing and dresses worn during state visits to Brazil and other nations.