Maria Felipa de Oliveira

Maria Felipa de Oliveira was one of three women that participated in the struggle for Bahia's independence in 1823. Born on Itaparica Island, date unknown, Maria Felipa used to sell seafood. She led a group of 200 people, including black women and people from the indigenous populations of Tupinambás and Tapuias in the battles against the Portuguese who attacked the Itaparica Island on 1822.

Historian Ubaldo Osório Pimentel, maternal grandfather of the writer João Ubaldo Ribeiro, verified through public documents on records that a group of people, mostly women, led by Maria Felipa defended the coast of Itaparica Island against Portuguese repression. In his book A Ilha de Itaparica, published in 1942, historian Ubaldo Osório Pimentel cites the historical figure of Maria Felipa, which is also mentioned in the historical novel O Sargento Pedro [Sargent Peter], by Xavier Marques.