Graciette Branco

Poet, she wrote and published several children's literature books. She was married to the poet Augusto Santa Rita, being widowed in 1956. At age 16, she already held a prominent position in some Lisbon newspapers and magazines. She gave interesting lectures at the Salão de Festas of the newspaper O Século, at Emissora Nacional, and at the Liceu de Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho. For two years she was part of the Missões Culturais of the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional, giving lectures and poetry recitals throughout the country. On 26 March 1943, the puppet theatre of Mestre Gil was created at the former café of the Coliseu (in the same building as the Coliseu dos Recreios, later moving to the Feira Popular), where Graciette Branco played an important role in cultural animation for children. In 1946 she was awarded 1st Prize for Heroic Poetry in the Emissora Nacional's Jogos Florais. She contributed to Diário de Lisboa, Diário Popular, Selecções Femininas, and Século Ilustrado.