Unlike some western European countries, most notably England and France, Portugal had extremely few prominent women writers prior to the twentieth century. Although in her lifetime Florbela Espanca received relatively little public and critical recognition, she is now recognized as a major author, the first Portuguese woman poet to have achieved this status. She is not only a significant figure in her own right but also an important precursor to the flourishing literary production by women writers in contemporary Portugal.

Florbela d'Alma da Conceição Espanca was born out of wedlock on 8 December 1894 in Vila Viçosa in the province of Alentejo. Her father, João Maria Espanca, was an avid photographer who in 1887 had opened his own shop, the Photo Calypolense, in addition to various business dealings. He later became one of the pioneering distributors of cinematography in Portugal. Her mother, Antó...