Cesina Bermudes
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Cesina Bermudes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 May 1908 |
| Died | 9 December 2001 (aged 93) Lisbon |
| Occupation | Obstetrician |
| Years active | 60 |
| Known for | Opposition to authoritarian Estado Novo Government; Political prisoner |
| Notable work | Scientific Bases of Childbirth without Pain |
Cesina Borges Adães Bermudes (1908–2001) was a Portuguese obstetrician who introduced the concept of “painless childbirth” to Portugal. She was also a prominent feminist and an opponent of the Estado Novo authoritarian regime, for which she was imprisoned for three months.
Cesina Bermudes was born on 20 May 1908 in Lisbon, Portugal in the parish of Anjos. She was the daughter of Félix Bermudes and Cândida Emília Borges. Her father was an author and playwright as well as being a notable sportsman who represented Portugal in shooting at the Summer Olympics and was a financial supporter and president of S.L. Benfica, now one of Portugal’s leading soccer clubs. Her mother was a well-educated woman who taught her French and read Greek mythology to her at bedtime. Bermudes inherited her father’s athleticism and was a swimming champion, also taking part in skating, gymnastics and in bicycle and car races, being one of the first women in Portugal to obtain a driving license. As a cyclist, she won the first two "Tour of Lisbon" cycling races for women.[1] Like her father she was a member of the Theosophical Society of Portugal, where she served as secretary-general. She believed in reincarnation and was a vegetarian. [2][3][4][5]
After initially receiving a private education at home Cesina Mercedes attended the elite Camões Secondary School. When she joined there were four other girls in her class, but by the time she left she was the only girl in a glass with 15 boys. She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon in 1933 and followed this with a General Internship and an Internship in Surgery with a specialty in Obstetrics. She worked as a doctor at the “Centre for Assistance to Maternity and Childhood” in Lisbon. This was followed by a period as Assistant Professor of Anatomy at a Lisbon hospital. In 1947 she became the first woman to obtain a Doctorate in medicine (with a score of 19 out of 20). The title of her thesis was Os Músculos Radiais Externos Estudados nos Portugueses de Condição Humilde (The External Radial Musculature Observed in the Portuguese Low Income Population). However, as a result of her political activism the Estado Novo did not allow her to pursue an academic teaching career. As a result, she taught at a nurses’ college.[2][3][4][5]
Her political awareness had been formed in the early 1940s and she became a supporter of the opposition to the Estado Novo. In 1945 she joined the Movement of Democratic Unity, a semi-legal umbrella organization of groups that opposed the Government. She supported the candidacy of José Norton de Matos in the 1949 Portuguese presidential elections and spoke in his support at several rallies. On 14 October 1949 she was arrested by the Portuguese Secret Police (PIDE) for being a member of the Central Commission of the Women's Democratic National Movement, and held in prison at Caxias, near Lisbon, for three months. In 1950, she was involved in developing the constitution of the National Committee for the Defence of Peace.[2][3][4][5]
