Her father edited the liberal left wing periodicals "Gazeta Literária do Porto" and "A Actualidade" and later the "A Ideia Nova – diário democrático".

The household was a gathering place for his friends and colleagues, who were part of the liberal cultural and political scene, including Oliveira Martins, Ramalho Ortigão, Camilo Castelo Branco, Antero de Quental and Teófilo Braga.

[2] Rita de Morais Sarmento completed her degree in Civil Engineering and Public Works in 1894, receiving distinctions in some of the categories, and frequently scoring at the top of her class.

[7] Two years later, on 30 July 30, 1896, she applied to the university for a "Carta de Capacidade" the equivalent of chartered or licensed engineer certification for professional purposes.

Agnes Klingberg and Betzy Meyer (Denmark, 1897), Alice Perry (Ireland, 1906) and Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu (Romanian student in Germany, 1912)[1] Rita de Morais Sarmento never really worked as a professional civil engineer, partly due to her fragile heath, coupled with the difficulties in getting work as a female engineer in conservative Portuguese society.