# First Lady of Portugal

First Lady of Portugal (Portuguese: primeira-dama) is the unofficial title attributed to the wife or Partner of the president of Portugal. To date, there has been no first gentleman of Portugal. The position is currently vacant since the first presidential inauguration of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in 2016.

## 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 Queiroga 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.

## Role and duties

The role of the Portuguese president's spouse, be it "First Lady" or "First Gentleman", is not an official office and, as such, they are not given a salary or official duties. The first ladies have played a mere protocol role during official ceremonies and state visits. However, since 1996, under the presidency of Jorge Sampaio, the president's spouse has the right to a workplace and a three-people staff incorporated in the President's Office. In addition, according to the Portuguese State Protocol's order of precedence, the spouse of any high-ranking office holder is given the same rank as theirs, as long as the spouse is also invited to the ceremony.
Since the current president has no spouse and the main candidates in the last presidential election refused to continue with the president's spouse's workplace, the only two first ladies to have used it were Jorge Sampaio and Aníbal Cavaco Silva's wives: Maria José Ritta and Maria Cavaco Silva.

## List of first ladies of Portugal
### First Portuguese Republic (1910–1926)

| Portrait | Name | Terms begins | Term ends | President |
| | Lucrécia Augusta de Brito de Berredo Furtado de Melo de Arriaga | 24 August 1911 | 29 May 1915 | Manuel de Arriaga |
| Vacant | Vacant | 29 May 1915 | 5 October 1915 | Teófilo Braga |
| | Elzira Dantas Gonçalves Pereira Machado | 5 October 1915 | 5 December 1917 | Bernardino Machado |
| | Maria dos Prazeres Martins Bessa Pais | 9 May 1918 | 14 December 1918 | Sidónio Pais |
| | Mariana de Santo António Moreira Freire Correia Manuel Torres de Aboim do Canto e Castro | 16 December 1918 | 5 October 1919 | João do Canto e Castro |
| | Maria Joana Morais Perdigão Queiroga de Almeida | 5 October 1919 | 5 October 1923 | António José de Almeida |
| | Belmira das Neves | 5 October 1923 | 11 December 1925 | Manuel Teixeira Gomes |
| | Elzira Dantas Gonçalves Pereira Machado | 11 December 1925 | 31 May 1926 | Bernardino Machado |

### Second Portuguese Republic (1926–1974)

| Portrait | Name | Terms begins | Term ends | President |
| | Maria das Dores Formosinho Vieira Cabeçadas | 31 May 1926 | 17 June 1926 | José Mendes Cabeçadas |
| | Henriqueta Júlia de Mira Godinho Gomes da Costa | 17 June 1926 | 9 July 1926 | Manuel Gomes da Costa |
| | Maria do Carmo Ferreira da Silva Carmona | 16 November 1926 | 18 April 1951 | António Óscar Carmona |
| | Berta da Costa Ribeiro Arthur Craveiro Lopes | 9 August 1951 | 5 July 1958 | Francisco Craveiro Lopes |
| Vacant | Vacant | 5 July 1958 | 9 August 1958 | Francisco Craveiro Lopes |
| | Gertrudes Ribeiro da Costa Rodrigues Tomás | 9 August 1958 | 25 April 1974 | Américo Tomás |

### Third Portuguese Republic (1974–Present)

| Portrait | Name | Term begins | Term ends | President |
| | Maria Helena Martins Monteiro de Barros Spínola | 15 May 1974 | 30 September 1974 | António de Spínola |
| | Maria Estela Veloso de Antas Varajão da Costa Gomes | 30 September 1974 | 13 July 1976 | Francisco da Costa Gomes |
| | Maria Manuela Duarte Neto Portugal Ramalho Eanes | 14 July 1976 | 9 March 1986 | António Ramalho Eanes |
| | Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares | 9 March 1986 | 9 March 1996 | Mário Soares |
| | Maria José Rodrigues Ritta | 9 March 1996 | 9 March 2006 | Jorge Sampaio |
| | Maria Alves da Silva Cavaco Silva | 9 March 2006 | 9 March 2016 | Aníbal Cavaco Silva |
| Vacant | Vacant | 9 March 2016 | Present | Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa |

## In popular culture

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 Barros Spinola's black evening gown and 1920s-era clothing, fans and furs worn by Maria das Dores Cabeçadas, the first lady in 1926. Pieces from Maria José Ritta, who was the first lady at the time of the 2005 exhibition, included a 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.
In 2011, journalist Alberta Marques Fernandes published her book As Primeiras-Damas ("The First Ladies") about the wives of the presidents of the Third Portuguese Republic.