Paulo Malerbi (photo) an electrical engineer and systems analyst in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, has just published a book with the profiles of 25 remarkable Spiritist women from different regions of the country. He is a volunteer worker at FEESP, the São Paulo state Spiritist Federation, where he gives talks and lectures and works in their programmes to help smokers and people with other addictions. He also works at the Federation helping people suffering from depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric issues. In the following interview, he talks about his new book, Ação das Mulheres Espíritas no Brasil (The Role Played by Spiritist Women in Brazil):

How did you come up with the idea of putting together the biographies of Spiritist women?

The idea came up about 10 years ago, when I realised that even though we lived in an era where women’s rights were advancing so fast, very little was known about the noble example given by Spiritist women in Brazil since the late 19th century. My aim was to pay tribute to these remarkable women who worked and continue to work on both sides of life, with courageous faith and fraternal solidarity, in order to build a more fraternal and fairer world

Most of them have already returned to the Spirit World. What was your criteria to choose the 25 women featured in the book?

I had the opportunity of meeting and spending time with 10 of the 25 inspirational people from the book, something I thank God every day for. I’ve always been blessed with the presence of good and inspirational people in my life. Four of those 10 women are still with us, on this side of life. 

Do you think that prejudice for being women was among the biggest obstacles they had to deal with?

Without any doubt! Prejudice and discrimination are moral tumours that affect the quality of life of many people still today. And they were part of the daily routine of each one of these admirable women, in different ways. The Catholic Church and their followers were cruel, for example, with Anália Franco, Anna Prado and Zilda Gama. Adelaide Câmara had many unpleasant experiences with the protestant community, which was her religious affiliation before she became a Spiritist. Benedita Fernandes, on the other hand, went through unimaginable afflictions just because she was black and poor. And these are just a few of many examples. 

Were you touched in a special manner by any of the biographies in the book? 

I can say that modern societies lack good and inspiring examples. By getting to know the achievements of these fantastic women, through their biographies, it’s easy to understand the power that faith and love have to transform us, when associated with discipline, hard work and humility. The outcome comes in magnificent and lasting results. People like Auta de Souza, Martha Thomaz, Anna Motton, Laurete Godoy, Nair de Moraes, Suely Caldas Schubert, Clory Fagundes,  Yvonne Pereira and all the others featured in this book illustrate this point well. 

Some of the protagonists of your book are very well known figures in the Spiritist Movement. What would say about those people are less familiar with but who also played an equally important role?

As Jesus said, as registered in John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” And I dare add: “In the fields of Jesus, there is room for all of those who work willingly.” Armanda Pereira da Silva renounced a promising career as a musician (as a pupil of the great Brazilian musician director Heitor Villa Lobos) to care for her sick mother for 25 years. After that, she played a key role for many years in the management of the Casa de Recuperação e Benefícios Bezerra de Menezes, a Spiritist Centre in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro. Clory Fagundes was another example of someone who overcame the challenges that life brought her by choosing to work for Jesus. Her formal education resumed to 15 days in primary school, which didn’t prevent her from building, with her own hands, the Associação Cristã Verdade e Luz, better known as Lar da Mamãe Clory (Mother Clory’s Home). It was based initially in the city of Andradina (1943-1948) and later (from 1969) in São Bernardo do Campo, both in the state of São Paulo. She raised, fed and educated more than 5,000 children over 50 years. And 1,000 of them were registered by her and her husband (the unforgettable Orestes Marques) as their own children. 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

As fake news and hatred speech seem to come up everywhere in the media these days, we have tried to bring a bit of good news to the public through this book, Ação das Mulheres Espíritas no Brasil (The Role Played by Spiritist Women in Brazil). It contains the profiles of these 25 noble souls who, following the example of Christ, used their talents and their skills to educate, with a capital e, hearts of so many people. We are talking here about the education of the soul, which is the divine cultivation that will bear fruit for eternity. Thank you for this opportunity and thank you very much to all your readers who have honoured us with their time and attention.

Interviewer’s Note: