Maria Quitéria

Born in 1792, Maria Quitéria lived on a farm in São José de Itapororoca in

Bahia. At the age of ten, Maria lost her mother and took care of her sisters. She
had no schooling, but she knew how to hunt, fish, and handle weapons. In
1822, when the Interim Council of the Government of Bahia started to recruit
volunteers for the struggles to support Independence, Maria Quitéria became
interested but was forbidden by her father. But with the help of the sister,
Tereza Maria, and her brother-in-law, Jose Cordeiro Medeiros, she borrowed
her brother-in-law's uniform, cut her hair, and joined the army as a Medeiros
soldier in the battalion “Volunteers of Príncipe Dom Pedro”. Her father, upon
learning, sought out the battalion, where he revealed his daughter's true
identity, but Maria was already recognized for her actions and abilities, the
major did not allow her to be withdrawn from the army. After being recognized
by her real name, Maria Quitéria inspired other women to join the troops,
forming a group for Quitéria.
After the end of the war for independence, Maria Quitéria decided to return to
the region where she lived.
Maria married with the farmer Gabriel Pereira de Brito, with whom he had a
daughter, Luísa Maria da Conceição. After the death of her husband, she
moved to Feira de Santana to try to receive part of the inheritance left by her
father, but gave up and went to Salvador, where she died on August 21 in 1853.
I chose to talk about Maria, because I found her story and her acts interesting,
she was the first woman to join the army and I too had heard about her at
school last year.