[1][2][3][4] Eduarda began her artistic career at the age of 14, as an amateur actress, at the Teatro Terpsicore, successfully playing roles of different genres in the comedies Homem de Ouro, in 3 acts, by José da Silva Mendes Leal [pt], Útil e Agradável and Moleira de Marly, both in one act.

[1][2][3] She was invited by Actor Taborda to join the company at the Teatro do Ginásio, where she made her professional debut on the night of 1 October 1861 in the comedy A esposa deve acompanhar seu marido (The wife must accompany her husband) by Júlio César Machado  [pt], in which she achieved great success.

[1][2][3][5] After this tour she returned to mainland Portugal, settling in Porto, where she performed dramas, comedies and farces while working with several different companies.

Particularly notable were her performances in Thérèse Raquin, by Émile Zola, Le Médecin malgré lui by Molière, and La Poupée by Maurice Ordonneau.

She was buried in Porto's Agramonte Cemetery, in a tomb embellished with a statue by António Teixeira Lopes, a local sculptor, called The Sleep of Innocence.

[4][6] An obituary in the newspaper, O Occidente, read: "The actress Emilia Eduarda is one of the most brilliant figures in the history of Portuguese theatre, for how much she distinguished herself in it.