Maria Odete Santos, former PCP deputy, has died

Maria Odete Santos, an important member of the PCP, died this Wednesday at the age of 82.

The Portuguese Communist Party expressed its condolences to the family in a statement.

“Woman of April, distinguished deputy and communist leader, Odeti Santos was a prominent figure in the construction of Abril Portugal and in the assertion of the rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, in particular the rights of workers, equality and emancipation of women, constant participation in actions of solidarity with the people of the whole world, tireless participant in the realization of the ideal and project of the Portuguese Communist Party,” said the PCP.

Odete Santos was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from 1980 to 2007 and a member of the Municipal Assembly of Setubal from 1979 to 2009. She wrote 2003’s There Are Cherries in May, 2010’s Brooks Hypatia – Does the Brain Have Sex?, and a collection of poems, A Mortar of Poems.

Maria Odete Santos was born on April 26, 1941 in the parish of Pega, municipality of Guarda. She was a lawyer, joined the PCP in 1974 and was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from 1980 to 2007, and also held various positions at the party and municipal level, in Setúbal.

In the published note, the Secretariat of the Central Committee highlights the party path of the former deputy, who was the main voice of the PKP in defense of the decriminalization of abortion, in 1984, when the first law was approved, in 1998 at the first referendum. and in 2007, when he received the answer “yes.”

The body of the former communist MP will lie in the cremation chamber at the Convent of Jesus in Setúbal from 6:30 pm this Wednesday, with the funeral to take place on Thursday at 3:30 pm in the Church of Nossa Senhora da Piedade. cemetery in the same city, the secretariat of the PKP Central Committee said in a statement.

“Odete Santos stood out for her dedication to the workers and the people, her special connection with youth, confirming her outstanding abilities, depth of analysis, solidarity, dedication, integrity, courage and power of intervention,” praises the PCP, also recalling its intervention for the equality and emancipation of women .

Odete Santos entered the Assembly of the Republic in November 1980, elected from the Setubal district, and resigned from her mandate in April 2007, replaced by the deputy Bruno Diaz from the same district. She was a member of the II to X Legislative Assemblies and was elected President of the Municipal Assembly of Setúbal in 2002 and 2005.

She was a member of the Central Committee of the PCP, the Directorate of the regional organization of the PCP of Setúbal and the Women’s Democratic Movement. He was also a member of the Portugal-Cuba Friendship Association.

His interest in political activities began even earlier, when in 1961 he became involved in student associations. It was also at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon that Odete Santos first became acquainted with the Portuguese Communist Party, which she joined after April 25, 1974.

As a party leader and MP, she excelled in the areas of rights, freedoms and guarantees, workers’ rights and women’s rights, issues she discussed at conferences, debates, interviews and published articles, the note said, highlighting the “special significance” of his intervention in achieving new women’s rights, namely the fight against clandestine abortions and the decriminalization of voluntary termination of pregnancy.”

In Parliament, she devoted herself to labor law, constitutional issues and women’s rights, receiving the award of Chevalier of the Order of the Infante D. Enrique.

She was considered the PCP’s most popular MP and, at the time of her resignation from parliament, was praised by former Communist Secretary General Jerónimo de Sousa as a “passionate and passionate woman” who “puts her whole soul into her words.”

He has written several books, including There Are Cherries in May (Ausência, 2003) and Hypatia the Witch – Does the Brain Have Sex? (Página a Página, 2010), covers the activities of the PCP Secretariat.

“Subsequent generations heard and remember the strength he showed when he recited António Guedean’s Calzada de Carres,” the party said.

Odete Santos enjoyed a popularity that extended beyond the political sphere, appearing regularly on television programs ranging from political debates to entertainment programs.

Passionate about amateur theater, the former deputy made her stage debut in 1966. In 1991, she again took part in the play, and in 1999 she starred in the play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” staged by the Teatro Animasan de Setúbal. In 2004, he accepted an invitation to take part, this time in the revue “Arre Potter Qu’É Demais” at the Maria Vitoria Theater.