Sophia de Mello Breyner

Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004) was a Portuguese poet and writer, considered one of the 20th century's most important Portuguese poets, publishing fourteen poetry books from 1944 to 1997 on themes including nature, justice, Ancient Greece, and poetry itself. She also wrote acclaimed children's books like A Menina do Mar and short stories such as Contos Exemplares, while actively opposing the Estado Novo regime as a founder of the National Commission for Support of Political Prisoners and serving as a Socialist Party deputy in Portugal's 1975–1976 Constituent Assembly. In 1999, she became the first woman to win Portugal's highest literary honor, the Camões Prize.