Virgínia Dias da Silva was born, on 19 March 1850 in the parish of Salvador in Torres Novas in the Santarém district of Portugal.

She became interested in the theatre under the influence of her godfather, Rafael Rodrigues de Oliveira, a shareholder in the Teatro da Rua dos Condes in Lisbon.

As she sang well she was given roles in comic operas, such as La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy and Le pont des soupirs (The Bridge of Sighs) by Jacques Offenbach.

In 1870 she joined the impresario, José Carlos dos Santos at the D. Maria II National Theatre in Lisbon where she changed from playing the ingénue to being the grande dame in numerous roles, including plays by Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo, taking the place vacated by Manuela Rey, an actress who died at a young age.

Towards the end of her life, at the age of 70, she appeared in one of the first silent feature films made in Portugal, entitled O Condenado (The Condemned), directed by Mário Huguin and Afonso Gaio, which premiered on 2 May 1921, at Cinema Olympia in Lisbon.

She, herself, had always been active in helping retired actors, including Emília Cândida, who experienced financial difficulties due to blindness and lack of a pension.