Aurora, uma estudante insubmissa. Género, intolerância e contestação na Universidade de Coimbra na I República

Abstract

In 1916, Aurora Teixeira de Castro, a Law student at the University of Coimbra, upon learning that she had failed an exam, questioned some members of the jury in aggressive language, being supported by two fellow students. As a result, a case was opened against the three students by the academic police, which gave rise to a movement of solidarity with them and of protest against the Faculty of Law. The analysis of the proceeding provides a study of gender relations in higher education and an opportunity to contextualize the political protests set in motion by the case. The rebellious behavior of a student who was part of the first generation of women to graduate in law in Portugal signals a break with the traditional female archetype associated with submission and shows how the First Republic was introducing changes in gender identities and in the contestation of symbols of power.

Keywords

• Portuguese First Republic
• University of Coimbra
• history of education
• Aurora Teixeira de Castro
• history of women
• gender studies