Catarina Eufémia

Catarina Sabino Efigênia Eufémia ( born February 13, 1928 in Baleizão, † May 19, 1954 in Monte do Olival at Baleizão ) was a Portuguese farm worker.

Protests in Alentejo there was since the beginning of the 1950s riots, when the Salazar dictatorship in the form of the Security Police Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR ) was going hard against the farm workers. This protesting against low wages and their continued exploitation by the common in Alentejo landowners.

Catarina Eufémia was chosen on 19 May 1954 as a spokeswoman for a small group of farm workers who asked for a higher pay. The commander of the summoned GNR patrol shot them unceremoniously. In vain concealed funeral there were riots, when a large amount of people formed to protest.

Eufémia has since been regarded as a symbol of resistance and struggle for a more just society, especially in the south of Portugal. It was immortalized in the works of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, José Afonso and others. In 2007, organized by the public service broadcaster RTP ​​choice of "the greatest Portuguese of all time" (Os Grandes Portugueses ), she was elected to the 46th place.