Report on Visit to Casa Veva de Lima, Lisbon

For our last event of 2024, 40 members and guests gathered at the Casa Veva de Lima in Lisbon. The house, notable for the salons or soirées that Genoveva de Lima Mayer Ulrich used to hold there in the inter-war era, is now owned by the municipality of Lisbon. It is in a poor state of repair and many participants expressed concern that it was being allowed to decline, when much could be made out of it as a tourist attraction. The house was donated by Veva's daughter with all the contents included, and thus we are still able to appreciate its eclectic style of furnishing and understand the atmosphere of a century ago, when many famous names would visit.

Our host, Alfredo Ramalho (above), welcomed us at the front door and then guided us to a room just big enough for the 40 of us, where he provided a fascinating history of the families of Veva de Lima and her husband, Rui Enes Ulrich, an academic at the University of Coimbra and also a businessman. Describing the house, he noted that prevailing themes were swans and butterflies. Veva had written a book called The Butterfly and during the First World War she had sold paper butterflies to raise money to support the families of Portuguese soldiers. She was constantly changing the house. 

Alfredo told us that Ulrich had been appointed as ambassador to London on two occasions. On the first he was required by the dictator, António Salazar, to furnish the embassy residence at his own expense but then recalled following a political faux pas, when he seated the pretender to the Portuguese throne, D. Duarte Nuno, at the head of the table during a meal at the embassy. On the second occasion, the Ulrichs were due to leave shortly before the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth but Salazar was prevailed upon to let them stay until after the event because of their friendship with the Royal Family. 

Alfredo then showed us slides of the house to whet our appetites, both for lunch and the self-guided tours that followed the meal. He also pointed out that the house had been used for many events and showed pictures of some of those that had attempted to recreate the meetings held in Veva's time.

A good lunch was taken in various rooms, wherever people could find a table. A few were left sitting with a plate on their knees.

After lunch we explored the house further, before re-assembling for further clarification from Alfredo and for a Vote of Thanks to him from the Society's Chairman, Edward Godfrey. Edward also took the opportunity to announce that Patricia Lamb (below), having served the Society for twenty years as the Events Organiser, had been made an Honorary Member of the Society, to universal approbation.