This is a picture of one of my fourth great grandmothers, taken some time in the late 1870s, just before she married my fourth great grandfather.All I know about her is that she was called Porfiria Lemos Fartelinni da Fonseca, her husband was called Astolfo da Fonseca and her daughter, Laura, married one of my third great grandfathers on my mother's side, Carlos Stallone.
I have no idea where this picture was taken - probably a funfair on the beach. Her outfit is very sassy for a woman to wear in public back then - maybe she was an actress or artist of some sort, maybe she was not very reputable or perhaps the picture was taken at home.
To me this is just an example of how little I know about my female ancestors. Many tales of how great and interesting the lives of my male ancestors were have been passed down from generation to generation in my family, but very little was ever said about my women relatives.
I am always reminded of my fourth great grandfather Luigi Stallone, who was born in Naples, Italy, in 1802. He was a painter and a teacher at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli. In 1843, he arrived in Brazil with the Emperor D. Pedro II's wife-to-be, Thereza Christina, his most famous painting student and, according to grandma, also his lover.
Luigi's few surviving paintings belong to museums and private collectors in Rio and Naples. My family is still in possession of gifts he received from the Empress, which some swear are proof of her fondness for him.
However, what is almost never mentioned is how difficult life was for Luigi when he decided to pursue his career as a portrait painter, as documented in Almanak Laemmert, one of the first publications launched in Brazil.
He never succeeded. One of his contemporaries, Nicolao Facchinetti, possibly a student of his and another of the Empress' teachers, was much more talented as a painter of Rio de Janeiro's landscapes and is considered one of the great names of 19th century Italian painting. Gonzaga Duque, a well-known critic at the time said Luigi's paintings were "awful" and "below mediocrity".
Luigi Stallone: self portrait
The family believes he retreated after that and possibly stopped painting. By 1849, he had met and married my fourth great grandmother, Maria Fortunata, of whom I know nothing about.
Luigi received an order of the Empire in 1872. In 1878 he died of typhoid fever, being survived by his three children - Luiz Manoel, Carlos (my third great grandfather) and Joao.
On my father's side, history belongs to military men. On his mother's side, the most famous character is my second great grandfather Bonifacio de Aragao Faria Rocha, a Portuguese scholar living in Bahia who was once national director of the Brazilian post office and owned land three times the size of the United Kingdom, given to his father by the Emperor.
Again, I know very little about the women. They raised their children, as it was expected of women back then - they were dutiful wives. My great grandmother Cecy Lydia D'Almeida Faria Rocha, however, was disowned by her brothers and sisters after moving out of Bahia to live in Rio de Janeiro with my great grandfather, Jose, as my grandmother once told me.
What I do know, however, is how amazing some of my great aunts were. Even the one who died just before I was born. Maria Helena Portilho was a writer and a poet. I grew up reading her children's books, which I loved so much. One of them, "Retalhinho Branco" was recommended by the UN in 1979 because it promoted racial equality. I never met her, but it is almost as if I have.
Her sister, Eponina, or Nina as she was known to her several nieces and nephews, was also a writer and dedicated her life after Maria Helena's death to publicise her work at schools in Rio, until she could not do it anymore due to ill health.
Aunt Nina was an inspiration. She was never married, but once told me how this "young man" proposed to her when she was in her 20s. The answer was no, of course. After all, she was "not interested". I have read many books because of her. Her love of literature astonished me from a very early age.
When I was a child, I used to show her things I had written, mainly poetry, and she would always tell me they were very good, probably to encourage me to keep writing. I will never forget how happy she was when I told her I had started a journalism course. Aunt Nina said I was going in the right direction and, as usual, she was right.
Someone I know, a promising young Brazilian poet, told me she decided to become a writer after Aunt Nina visited her school when she was five. That made me proud and happy.
Aunt Nina, a strong-willed, earnest woman who lived for her family and was much loved and admired, died in 2009, after suffering for many years from Parkinson's disease. I was in London when she died and could not attend her funeral. I miss her dearly. I will never forget her.
My grandmothers, great aunts, aunts, cousins - all women in my family today, especially my mother - are strong, passionate, hard-working, competent women. Some had difficult lives, some still have.
In 100 years, I hope we will have done and documented enough to be remembered by our second and third great granddaughters. In fact, I know we will.
