MARIA CAROLINA RODERIGUES de MATOS da SILVA BAPTISTA

Maria Carolina Rodrigues de Matos da Silva Baptista is a native of Bretanha, Sao Miguel, Azores, where she was born in 1945. She studied in Lisbon where she earned a degree at the Instituto Superior de Linguas e Administracao (ISLA). She immigrated to the United States in 1975, and, as a new immigrant to this country, earned a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree from Brown University in English and American Literature.

Over the past twenty years, Carolina has served the Portuguese American community in many ways. In her early years in this country, she was active at Fox Point School and served as President of the PTA. In Fall River, Massachusetts, she was on the Board of Directors of the Portuguese American Association, and a founding member of the Portuguese Building Society, and of the Cultural Center.

Ms. Matos is a founding member of the Portuguese American Women's Association, an organization of professionals dedicated to the advancement of Portuguese Americans. In an effort to promote cultural and social ties between Portuguese and Jewish communities, she founded the Aristides Sousa Mendes Society. For twelve years, she was the editor-in-chief of the Portuguese American Journal and provided the community with a high quality weekly newspaper. She is also a writer who has published poetry and other literary works.

Carolina also has been active in the struggle for human rights in East Timor. She has been in the vanguard in the Portuguese American community, daring to take stands on controversial political and social issues. In addition, she is active in many educational and charitable activities throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Carolina Matos is married to Jose Agostinho da Silva Baptista and is the mother of Rafael, Cesar, and Helena Sofia.