Maina Mendes

Maria Velho da Costa (1938-2020) was a Portuguese writer renowned for her experimental prose and participation in the feminist movement. She gained early acclaim with her novel Maina Mendes (1969) and international notoriety as one of the "Three Marias" for the collaborative Novas Cartas Portuguesas (1972), which led to her arrest under the Estado Novo dictatorship. She received the prestigious Camões Prize in 2002 for her lifetime achievement.