Florbela d’Alma da Conceição Espanca, more commonly known as Florbela Espanca, was a Portuguese writer and poet. In addition to being considered the greatest female figure in Portuguese literature of her time, she was also one of the first  feminists in Portugal.

Known mainly for her sonnets, Florbela Espanca began writing poems when she was just 8 years old, and since then she has always written about love (and lovelessness), suffering, longing and loneliness. Motherless at 13, divorced twice and the victim of an abortion, her life was tumultuous, restless and full of suffering, which inspired her poetry.

She studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and was one of the few women among the hundreds of students enrolled. Her first book, Livro de Mágoas, was a success and sold out quickly.

After the death of her brother in a car accident, Florbela attempted suicide several times. Her despair worsened after she was diagnosed with pulmonary oedema and died of a drug overdose on her 36th birthday.

Apart from our Florbela Pâtisserie, the poet has been honoured in various ways. In Matosinhos, Porto, where Florbela lived, she was honoured with a library named after her. In 1949, the Lisbon City Council honoured the poet by naming a street in Alvalade after her. In addition, her verses influenced several poets, some of whom honoured her in their own works. Fernando Pessoa described her as a “dreaming soul/My twin sister!”.

Some of her main works are:

• Book of Sorrows (1919);

• Charneca in Flower (1930);

• Complete Sonnets (1934).

“You love who you love, not who you want to love.”
– Florbela Espanca.