Abstract
Virgínia Quaresma (1882-1973), a pioneering figure of Portuguese and Brazilian journalism, feminist, lesbian and Afrodescendant, has attracted increasing attention from both scholars and the general public over the last two decades. This article seeks to situate Quaresma's identity and activity in the sociocultural landscape of her time, particularly against the background of the historical narratives of Portuguese Blackness, on the one hand, and feminist organizing and sociability, on the other, in the early decades of the twentieth century. The final section turns to a work of fiction, a spiritualist novel by Spanish writer and journalist Carmen de Burgos, titled El retorno and published in 1922 in both Spanish and Portuguese, which features a character modeled on Quaresma.