At a young age Lopes Vieira began to get involved in various political and civil rights causes, becoming an enthusiastic member of the Republican Party, which aimed to overthrow the Portuguese monarchy. She also became a feminist and anarcho-syndicalist, participating in the strike of academics against the government in 1907. In 1910, she started working as a teacher at the "Escola-Oficina Nº 1" in Lisbon. After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1910, and despite her humble origins, she quickly managed to insert herself into Portuguese intellectual circles. At the Second Portuguese Congress of Free thought she met her husband, António Pinto Quartin, a Brazilian intellectual and activist of Portuguese origin. In 1913, she left for Brazil, accompanying her husband who had been expelled from Portugal due to his anarchist views. She remained there until 1915, when the family was allowed to return to Portugal.