Catarina Eufémia
Encyclopedia
Catarina Efigénia Sabino Eufémia (kɐtɐˈɾinɐ ewˈfɛmiɐ; February 13, 1928 to May 19, 1954) was an illiterate harvester from Alentejo, Portugal
who was murdered during a worker's strike by lieutenant Carrajola of the Guarda Nacional Republicana in Monte do Olival, Baleizão
, in Beja, Alentejo. Catarina had three children, one eight months old, who was with her when she was shot.
The historic tragedy of Catarina came to personify the resistance movement
against the regime of António de Oliveira Salazar
. She was adopted as an icon
by the Portuguese Communist Party in Alentejo. Poets Sophia de Mello Breyner, Carlos Aboim Inglez
, Eduardo Valente da Fonseca
, Francisco Miguel Duarte
, José Carlos Ary dos Santos, Maria Luísa Vilão Palma and António Vicente Campinas
have all dedicated poems to her. António Vicente Campinas' "Cantar Alentejano" was put to music by Zeca Afonso
on the album "Cantigas de Maio", made on Christmas day, 1971. (Hear part of the song here.)
harvest, Catarina and thirteen other harvest-women complained with the supervisor
of the property where they were, trying to obtain a two escudo
increase in their daily pay. The fourteen women frightened the supervisor enough for him to go to Beja to call the owner and the police.
Catarina was chosen to present the worker's grievances to the police. In response to a question of a police lieutenant
, Catarina answered that they only wanted "work and bread". The lieutenant slapped her and she fell to the ground. When Catarina stood up, she said: "Now kill me already."
The lieutenant shot her three times, shattering her vertebrae. The eight-month-old boy she had in her arms was injured, along with another peasant. Catarina died a few minutes later in the hands of her own boss (who had arrived in the meantime.) He lifted her out of the pool of blood
she lay in.
, fearing the reaction of the populace, the authorities resolved to carry out Catarina's funeral secretly. When the commoners found out about the funeral, they ran towards the coffin
with screams of protest. The police beat them back brutally. The coffin was hastily removed and taken not to the cemetery
of Baleizão
, but to the land of Catarina's husband António Joaquim, Quintos, about 10 km outside of Baleizão. In 1974, her remains were transferred to Baleizão.
In the sequence of disturbances during the funeral, nine peasants were accused of disrespecting authority; the majority of them were sentenced to two years in prison
. Lieutenant Carrajola was transferred to Aljustrel
but he never came to be judged in court. He died in 1964.
of the anti-fascist resistance, the Portuguese Communist Party
supposedly adulterated details of the life and death of Catarina Eufémia. Firstly, they claim that Catarina was a militant of the Communist Party in the local committee of Baleizão
in 1953, which some people claim to be false. The choice of Catarina as a spokeswoman for the harvest-women may actually have been influenced by there not being any suspicion of her being a communist. In fact, Mariana Janeiro, a militant communist imprisoned several times by the Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado, always rejected the hypothesis
that Catarina was a member of the party. On the other hand, António Gervásio, former leader of the PCP in Alentejo, affirms that Catarina was in fact a member of the local committee of the PCP of Baleizão in 1953.
, that the references to a pregnancy were false.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
who was murdered during a worker's strike by lieutenant Carrajola of the Guarda Nacional Republicana in Monte do Olival, Baleizão
Baleizão
Baleizão is a Portuguese parish of the municipality of Beja. It is 138.25 km² in area, with 1,056 inhabitants as of 2001.The parish contains Monte do Olival , where Catarina Eufémia was murdered in 1954. She subsequently became a national icon of the resistance against the Estado Novo regime....
, in Beja, Alentejo. Catarina had three children, one eight months old, who was with her when she was shot.
The historic tragedy of Catarina came to personify the resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
against the regime of António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
. She was adopted as an icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
by the Portuguese Communist Party in Alentejo. Poets Sophia de Mello Breyner, Carlos Aboim Inglez
Carlos Aboim Inglez
Carlos Hahnemann Saavedra Aboim Inglez was a Portuguese communist intellectual, militant and leader of the Partido Comunista Português. He entered the party in 1946 ....
, Eduardo Valente da Fonseca
Eduardo Valente da Fonseca
Eduardo Valente da Fonseca is a Portuguese writer. He has collaborated on literary supplements for journals such as Comércio do Porto and the Jornal de Notícias, as well as Vértice and the Jornal de Letras...
, Francisco Miguel Duarte
Francisco Miguel Duarte
Francisco Miguel Duarte, also known by the nickname Chico Sapateiro was a Portuguese writer and a regional leader in the Portuguese Communist Party. He was a poet, whose principal subjects are revolution and the Portuguese people...
, José Carlos Ary dos Santos, Maria Luísa Vilão Palma and António Vicente Campinas
António Vicente Campinas
António Vicente Campinas is a Portuguese poet from Algarve. His works include the book Raiz da Serenidade. He is especially famous for his poem "Cantar Alentejano", in honor of Catarina Eufémia. The poem, with music by José Afonso, is on the album "Cantigas de Maio", released on Christmas Day,...
have all dedicated poems to her. António Vicente Campinas' "Cantar Alentejano" was put to music by Zeca Afonso
Zeca Afonso
José Manuel Cerqueira Afonso dos Santos, known as Zeca Afonso or just Zeca , was born in Aveiro, Portugal, the son of José Nepomuceno Afonso, a judge, and Maria das Dores. Zeca is among the most influential folk and political musicians in Portuguese history...
on the album "Cantigas de Maio", made on Christmas day, 1971. (Hear part of the song here.)
Context
Alentejo was a region of large estates and seasonal jobs and the living conditions of the peasants and salaried workers were extremely difficult. This socio-economic and labor situation agitated the peasant masses in the region starting in the mid-1940s, and this social agitation escalated over the next two decades. There were constant uproars and rural workers' strikes, which were watched by the Portuguese police, who were looking for communist agitators and infiltrators.Murder
On May 19, 1954, during the wheatWheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
harvest, Catarina and thirteen other harvest-women complained with the supervisor
Supervisor
A supervisor, foreperson, team leader, overseer, cell coach, facilitator, or area coordinator is a manager in a position of trust in business...
of the property where they were, trying to obtain a two escudo
Portuguese escudo
The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the Euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos....
increase in their daily pay. The fourteen women frightened the supervisor enough for him to go to Beja to call the owner and the police.
Catarina was chosen to present the worker's grievances to the police. In response to a question of a police lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, Catarina answered that they only wanted "work and bread". The lieutenant slapped her and she fell to the ground. When Catarina stood up, she said: "Now kill me already."
The lieutenant shot her three times, shattering her vertebrae. The eight-month-old boy she had in her arms was injured, along with another peasant. Catarina died a few minutes later in the hands of her own boss (who had arrived in the meantime.) He lifted her out of the pool of blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
she lay in.
Funeral and burial
After the funeralFuneral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
, fearing the reaction of the populace, the authorities resolved to carry out Catarina's funeral secretly. When the commoners found out about the funeral, they ran towards the coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
with screams of protest. The police beat them back brutally. The coffin was hastily removed and taken not to the cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
of Baleizão
Baleizão
Baleizão is a Portuguese parish of the municipality of Beja. It is 138.25 km² in area, with 1,056 inhabitants as of 2001.The parish contains Monte do Olival , where Catarina Eufémia was murdered in 1954. She subsequently became a national icon of the resistance against the Estado Novo regime....
, but to the land of Catarina's husband António Joaquim, Quintos, about 10 km outside of Baleizão. In 1974, her remains were transferred to Baleizão.
In the sequence of disturbances during the funeral, nine peasants were accused of disrespecting authority; the majority of them were sentenced to two years in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. Lieutenant Carrajola was transferred to Aljustrel
Aljustrel
Aljustrel is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 458.3 km² and a total population of 9,940 inhabitants.During the Roman era, Aljustrel was known as Metallum Vispascense....
but he never came to be judged in court. He died in 1964.
Communist Party affiliations
While she has been made into an iconIcon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of the anti-fascist resistance, the Portuguese Communist Party
Portuguese Communist Party
The Portuguese Communist Party is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist....
supposedly adulterated details of the life and death of Catarina Eufémia. Firstly, they claim that Catarina was a militant of the Communist Party in the local committee of Baleizão
Baleizão
Baleizão is a Portuguese parish of the municipality of Beja. It is 138.25 km² in area, with 1,056 inhabitants as of 2001.The parish contains Monte do Olival , where Catarina Eufémia was murdered in 1954. She subsequently became a national icon of the resistance against the Estado Novo regime....
in 1953, which some people claim to be false. The choice of Catarina as a spokeswoman for the harvest-women may actually have been influenced by there not being any suspicion of her being a communist. In fact, Mariana Janeiro, a militant communist imprisoned several times by the Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado, always rejected the hypothesis
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. The term derives from the Greek, ὑποτιθέναι – hypotithenai meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". For a hypothesis to be put forward as a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it...
that Catarina was a member of the party. On the other hand, António Gervásio, former leader of the PCP in Alentejo, affirms that Catarina was in fact a member of the local committee of the PCP of Baleizão in 1953.
Pregnancy
It has also been said that Catarina Eufémia was a few months pregnant when she was killed. Apparently, this information came from other harvest-women, whom Catarina had confided in a few days before her death. During the autopsy, the people of Baleizão were joined in the square of the Cathedral of Beja, a few meters from the Hospital da Misericórdia, crying out in despair: "It was not one, there were two deaths!" However, the forensic scientist who did the autopsy, Henriques Pinheiro, affirmed repeatedly, even after the revolution of 1974Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
, that the references to a pregnancy were false.