Maria Barroso

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Maria de Jesus Simões Barroso Soares, GCL (born Fuseta, Olhão, 2 May 1925) is a Portuguese actress, daughter of Alfredo José Barroso, born in Alvor, Portimão, and wife Maria da Encarnação Simões.

She is the wife of former President Mário Soares, whom she married on February 22, 1949 at the 3rd Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon, while he was in the Aljube prison, with whom she has one son, politician João Soares, and one daughter, Isabel Barroso Soares, January 9, 1951, unmarried and without issue, who manages the Colégio Moderno; although not as politically involved as her husband, she was a founding member of the Socialist Party. She is the President of the Aristides Sousa Mendes Foundation and Pro Dignitate Association. She was the head of the Portuguese Red Cross for several years.

She was a member of the National Theater Company and one of the most famous theater and cinema actress in Portugal. Recently she read the poetry of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen at the Unesco for an homage to Aristides Sousa Mendes, where baritone Jorge Chaminé participated also.