PANJIM, May 29: Beyond the "boundaries of their homes", Goan women have attained a host of achievements in fields as diverse as literature, history, the sciences, medicine, art, music, the stage, painting and sculpture, and even for their work related to the United Nations.
But, the story of Goan women has taken its time to be told, according to Fátima da Silva Gracias, the historian-author of a new book, just back from the printers. The 352-page hardbound book is called 'Trailblazers: Some Goan Women Achievers' and contains word-sketches of the achievements of some 119 women from Goa. Some go back to the late 19th century, while others are still active and working in the field, with more decades to contribute. There are those from the world of writing and art. But nearly two dozen entries are also related to Goan women in medicine and other sciences. Among these are Emelina da Cunha Costa (1973-1972), who was one of the first three Indians women to graduate from the Grant Medical School in Bombay. She specialised in Bacteriology and was also an opera singer. Other prominent names from this field which Goa might have all but forgotten include the Kenya doctor Mary Matilda Pereira de Souza (1890-1953), and other prominent doctors like Myrtle de Noronha (Bombay), Escolastica Gracias e Peres, Anita de Souza, the Hawaii-based Maria Cristina Snyder, prominent psychiatrist Adelia Peres e Costa (1928-2019), Karachi's Sylvia de Sa, Ratan Counto-Naik, and even Dr Reita Faria Powell of Tivim (better known as Miss World 1966). Beyond medicine, Goan women have earned their name and fame in botany, cancer therapy, evolutionary biology, research, and even travelling to Antarctica for scientific research (Helga do Rosario Gomes). In her introduction, the historian Silva Gracias, says she began work on this book soon after the outbreak of the 2020 Covid pandemic, amidst challenging times, lockdowns, archives and libraries in Goa being shut. She comments: "The need to write these profiles of Goan women was felt for a long time. Women are contributors to, and bearers of, culture. Goan women living in Goa, other parts of India and overseas have made outstanding contributions to a vast range of activities covering education, writing, science, sports, art, political and cultural activities. "They have participated in and won international beauty contests. Goan women have made their presence felt at world bodies such as the United Nations. Yet not much has been written about them, until recent times." In her book, almost all the women listed have been "born in Goa to Goan parents, born to Goan parents outside Goa, and women whose one parent has been of Goan origin." Obviously, the diaspora too has played a huge role in making its contribution. For the work, the author collated profiles as narrated by the person profiled, or with the help of information from their families, and even from "my research on Goan women for over thirty years from libraries, archives and private collections in Goa, Bombay and Lisbon." Silva Gracias notes that women in Goa received no formal education until the 19th century. The first primary school for girls was set up at "Nova Goa" in 1846. She traces the growth of education among Goan and diasporic women, including how daughters of those who migrated to British Indian cities like Karachi or Poona studied medicine in Bombay. Yet, in times when the only space "permitted to women" was their homes, some became educationists, prolific writers and eloquent speakers (Propercia Correia Afonso). Others went on to write the history of villages they were part of, such as Chandor. Some became travel writers and contributed to distant newspapers. One of the women featured (Leonor de Loyola Furtado Fernandes, 1909-2005) even studied in a seminary. Short story writers, pharmacists, multilingual translators, professors, theatre people, authors, playwrights, curators, journalists, lawyers, that's not all... and even a member of the censor board. Women from Goa have fitted in to all these roles. The languages they've worked in is impressive too -- Spanish, Catalan, Esperanto, French, apart from more commonly encountered English, Konkani, Portuguese, and Marathi or other Indian languages. Music, expectedly, brings in great talent and variety. From Hindustani (Anjanibai Malpekar, Kesarbai Kerkar, Mogubai Kurdikar, Kishori Amonkar, Lata Amonkar, Asha Bhosle, Ashalata Wabgaonkar, Varsha Usgaonkar Sharma) to Opera, Jazz, piano and violin. Art -- painting, sculpture, curating and film-making -- shows another set of talent. But in the United Nations, Goa has a current Assistant General Secretary (Ligia Noronha), a member of the Portuguese Permanent Mission (Maria Virginia Braz Gomes), a former principal of the United Nations International School at NY (Lea Vaz Rangel-Ribeiro), among others. The book will be featured at a curtain-raiser on Saturday morning, May 29, 2022 at 10 am at the Maquinez Palace (main auditorium) during the "Liberty and Light Festival", and available there at a special pre-launch discount there. It will shortly reach booksellers stocking the latest Goa-related books. It has been published by Goa,1556. Silva Gracias has earlier written books on health and hygiene in colonial Goa, the cultural links between Goa and Portugal, two well received books on Goan food (Cozinha de Goa), and other books on Goan women (*The Many Faces of Sundorem, Women in Goa;* and *Kaleidoscope of Women in Goa*, 1510-1961). *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Join a discussion on Goa-related issues by posting your comments on this or other issues via email to goa...@goanet.org See archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-