Maria Lúcia Vassalo Namorado (1 June 1909 – 9 February 2000) was a Portuguese writer, poet, journalist, teacher and social reformer, and director of the magazine Os nossos filhos (Our Children).
In 1929 she began collaborating with Maria Lamas on the magazine Modas e Bordados (Fashions and Embroidery) published as a supplement to the daily newspaper O Século.
In 1937, the family moved to Golegã, where she published her first book in the same year, a novella entitled Negro e Cor de Rosa (Black and pink), under the name Maria Lúcia.
[2][4][5] In June 1942, Namorado started to publish the monthly magazine Os Nosso Filhos (Our Children), which she directed and edited with the financial support of António Júlio Vassalo, her cousin.
The magazine was addressed to parents and published articles written by both supporters and opponents of the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, including Alice Vieira and Mário Castrim [pt].
She also joined Maria Lamas as a member of the Conselho Nacional das Mulheres Portuguesas (National Council of Portuguese Women), where she was secretary of the general assembly and president of its propaganda committee.
She was also associated with the Movement of Democratic Unity, an umbrella grouping of organizations, which was founded in October 1945 and was opposed to the authoritarian government of the time.
[4] Forced to look for a new livelihood, close to the age of fifty and separated from her husband, Namorado returned to her studies to obtain diplomas as a pre-school and primary teacher, as well as beginning to learn English and French.