One brother was José Dias Coelho, a painter and sculptor who played an important role in the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and was murdered by the PIDE, the political police of the Estado Novo.

The family moved to Coimbra in 1925 because of the father's work, who was placed in Castelo Branco in 1930, where Maria Adelaide Dias Coelho would be born two years later.

[1][2] In 1953, when she was 21, she married Carlos Aboim Inglez, a prominent PCP militant, that would be jailed for political reasons by the Estado Novo for a total of 10 years of his life.

[3][4][5] During her time in prison, Aboim Inglez was repeatedly punished for refusing to comply with the regulations and it was not until October 1960 that she was formally tried in court, when she was acquitted for lack of evidence and released.

[4][5] After the 25 April 1974 Carnation Revolution that overthrew the Estado Novo, Maria Adelaide Aboim Inglez returned to Portugal and worked at the headquarters of the PCP as a bookkeeper.