Some time ago, I posted a picture on FaceBook entitled “Retrato de Duas Mulheres” which features two very striking women and got a lot of attention. Most asked who these women were. At the time I had no idea. I was mostly focused on what I’ve come to call the “Lima Nose”. These women had the same nose as my great grandmother, Joanna, and her family member, Padre Manuel Antonio de Brito Lima.
Many people reposted this picture and it finally got to a woman in Boa Vista, Joana Lima Ramos, who identified the two as Maria Barbara and Nha Luci! When I inquired, she was, in fact, referring to Maria Barba, a very well known singer from the island of Boa Vista who, at the height of her career, performed at the Exposiçao Colonial do Porto in 1934 in Portugal. 
The only picture I had ever seen of this woman was a fuzzy image that didn’t show her remarkable features. She was young when she married and had her first child in 1930. The picture I posted was from 1926!
Maria Barba was born in 1910 in Boa Vista and died in 1974. Musicians made famous a song called “Maria Barba” about this very same woman. I grew up hearing this song and I am honored to get a closer glimpse of this woman from the island of my Lima ancestors.
LYRICS
Maria Barba, canta mais uma Morna (Para despedida do Sr. Tenente Serra ) 2x
S’nhôr Tenente, ‘m câ pôdê cantá más
‘m ti ta bai nhâ camin pâ Manga
Pâ matança di gafanhôt
Oh, Sr. Tenente, oli cóbe d’plícia
Djál bem bscóme
Ai, s’um ca bai, el tâ mandam’
Prese pâ Porte, oi, oi,…
Quem é o chefe desta povoação ) Porque Maria Barba tu não vais ainda )2x
Nôs cóbe-chef ê Nhô Tôc d’Chuc Canóche
Amim’ ti ta bai nhâ camin pâ Manga
Nhâ mãe ê fráca, nhâ pai ê môrte
Amim’‘m câ tem q’êm raspondê pa mim,oi,oi
Maria Barba, canta mais uma Morna
Porque eu falarei com o vosso cabo-chefe
Maria Barba, canta mais uma Morna
Se tu fores presa, responderei por ti
Saúde, Sr. Tenente, saúde Sr. Inginher
Um muito obrigada de Maria Barba
Oh S’nhôr Ten. Serra ora bocê bai pâ Lisboa
Ai câ bocê squêcê di nôs, oi, oi, …
Maria Barba não me esquecerei de vocês.
The Creola Genealogist 