View source for Mariana Carlota de Verna Magalhães Coutinho, Countess of Belmonte

{{Expand Portuguese|topic=bio|Mariana Carlota de Verna Magalhães Coutinho|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox noble
| name               = Mariana de Verna Magalhães
| title              = Countess of Belmonte
| image              = Condessa de Belmonte.png
| caption            = 19th century portrait of Verna
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1779|2|5|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Elvas]], [[Portalegre District|Portalegre]], [[Kingdom of Portugal]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1855|10|17|1779|2|5|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Empire of Brazil]]
| occupation         = Governess; chamberlain; court lady
| spouse             = Joaquim José de Magalhães Coutinho
}}
'''Mariana Carlota de Verna Magalhães Coutinho, Countess of Belmonte''' (5 February 1779 – 17 October 1855), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian court official.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=63GLZyXEIJEC&dq=Mariana+Carlota+de+Verna+Magalh%C3%A3es+Coutinho&pg=PA425 Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825-1891]''</ref> She was the main [[Chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]] during the reign of emperor [[Pedro I of Brazil]], and acted as a [[governess]] and second mother to the emperor's son, [[Pedro II of Brazil|Pedro II]], who had great affection for her and allowed her to have influence in the court. She was given the title of Countess of Belmonte.
Verna was appointed royal governess when the heir to the throne was born in 1825. When Emperor Pedro I abdicated the throne and left Brazil for Portugal in 1831, he appointed her to take care of his children, including the heir to the throne, Emperor Pedro II.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Carvalho
| first = José Murilo de
| year = 2007
| language = pt
| title = D. Pedro&nbsp;II: ser ou não ser
| publisher = Companhia das Letras
| location = São Paulo
| isbn = 978-85-359-0969-2
|page=31}}</ref> After Pedro II married, she was appointed the main [[lady-in-waiting]] to empress [[Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies|Teresa Cristina]]. In 1847, she became godmother to [[Princess Leopoldina of Brazil|Princess Leopoldina]].
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coutinho, Mariana Carlota de Verna Magalhães}}
[[Category:1779 births]]
[[Category:1855 deaths]]
[[Category:Ladies-in-waiting]]
[[Category:Brazilian courtiers]]
[[Category:Brazilian nobility]]
[[Category:19th-century Brazilian educators]]
[[Category:Royal governesses]]
[[Category:19th-century Brazilian women educators]]
[[Category: Brazilian Roman Catholics]]