Júlia Lopes de Almeida


Júlia Valentina de Silveira Lopes de Almeida was one of the first Brazilian women to earn acclaim and social acceptance as a writer. In a career that spanned five decades, she wrote in a variety of literary genres; however, it is her fiction, written under the influence of the naturalists Émile Zola and Guy de Maupassant, that has captured the attention of recent critics. Her notable novels include Memórias de Marta, the first Brazilian novel to take place in an urban tenement, A Família Medeiros, and A Falência. Immensely influential and appreciated by peers like Aluísio Azevedo, João do Rio and João Luso, she is remembered as an early advocate of modernized gender roles and increased women's rights, as a precursor to later women writers like Clarice Lispector, and for her support of abolition. She was married to the poet Filinto de Almeida.

Life

Lopes de Almeida was born on September 24, 1862 in Rio de Janeiro. She was daughter of the Visconde de São Valentim. Her career started in a newspaper of Campinas, the Gazeta de Campinas, in 1881. That year brought several shifts to Brazilian literature, namely the work Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas of Machado de Assis. Lopes de Almeida followed the new trends; however, her fame was ephemeral.
In Imperial Brazil, a woman that was dedicated to literature was seen with certain prejudice. In an interview conceded to João do Rio she said:
Her first article in Gazeta de Campinas was an article about theater. Although she was one of the first Brazilian women to write, she did not achieve the same success that European female authors had, like George Sand and Jane Austen.
She married the poet Filinto de Almeida. Her most famous works are Família Medeiros and A Herança, both psychological romances. But she also wrote children's literature, specifically between 1900 and 1917. Her main works for children were Histórias de nossa Terra and Era uma vez
She came from a privileged background and supported the domestic elements of female life. Although she also emphasized the education of woman as better for the family and tried, but failed, to join the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Works

Almeida authored many works. Her novels and short stories were deeply influenced by Émile Zola and Guy de Maupassant. Particularly notable is her children's literature. In an era when most books destined for children were mere translations of European books, she and her sister, Adelina Lopes Vieira, were amongst the first to write original texts. Her work fell into obscurity after the spread of Brazilian Modernism. Thanks to the recent republication of several of years by Brazil's press, her books have been made available to new readers and scholars. However, none have yet been translated in full into English.

Novels