Life interview with Maria do Rosário Carneiro: “Nobody gives up power. Power is conquered”
HThere is a boat with Chinese influence in one of the rooms of this house, near Lisbon. On board are daughters, sons and their husbands and wives, as well as grandchildren of the couple who live here. Maria do Rosário Carneiro and Roberto Carneiro planned to have 15 children. There were nine, including conductor Joana Carneiro. And everyone sails on this sailboat painted on a large canvas, hanging just a few steps from a heavy German piano. This piano has already passed through the hands of several generations of the family. And it will be tuned again, as soon as the grandchildren grow up. Speaking of the future, at 75 years old Maria do Rosário sees Pope Francis as a gift. And she defends equality between women and men, in the Church and in life in general. To achieve this, it is necessary to correct inequality in access to education, goods and power. Yes, Roberto was Minister of Education in a Government run by the Social Democratic Party, the PSD. And one of Maria do Rosário’s two brothers was the founder of the Social Democratic Center, the CDS. Adelino Amaro da Costa was the Minister of Defense, when PSD leader Francisco Sá Carneiro was Prime Minister. And he died in December 1980, leaving Lisbon on the same plane as Sá Carneiro, with Snu Abecassis and other people. There is a book about her brother Adelino that she co-authored. If there were a film or series about the large family she created with her husband, a scene that happened several times would be mandatory. When she returned from work and there was too much confusion when she got home, Maria do Rosário Carneiro would go out again. She would close the door and walk around the block.
