Margarita Cabral de Melo

Margarida Luísa Cabral de Melo
Fidalga of the Royal House of Portugal.
Born	1570 Azores, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	1631 Buenos Aires, Viceroyalty of Peru
Noble family	Cabral-Melo Coutinho
Spouse(s)	Amador Vaz de Alpoim
Father	Matias Nunes Cabral
Mother	Maria Simões de Melo
Religion	Roman Catholic

Margarida Cabral de Melo (1570–1631) was a Portuguese noble lady. In 1599 she settled with her husband and children in Buenos Aires. She was one of the most powerful women in the Río de la Plata, in the early 17th century, owns of luxury homes, farms and vineyards.

Among his illustrious ancestors was his maternal great-great-grandmother Dona Beatriz de Meneses, 2nd Countess of Loulé, a noble lady belonging to the family of the Portuguese Royal House, granddaughter of and Fernando I, Duke of Braganza, grandson of John I of Portugal.

Margarida was born in Santa Maria Island, the daughter of Matias Nunes Cabral and Maria Simões de Melo, a family belonging to the Portuguese nobility. She and her husband Amador Vaz de Alpoim, sons and sister Inês Nunes Cabral (wife of Gil Gonçalves de Moura), arrived to Buenos Aires from Rio de Janeiro, where they had lived for five years.

When her husband died in 1617, Margarida inherited the ranch in the town of Luján. The ranch was administered by his son Manuel Cabral de Alpoim, an expert rider, who was Lieutenant Governor of Corrientes in 1625.

Margarida Cabral de Melo possessed one of the most luxurious houses in the city, with mahogany furniture, carved silverware, tapestry and among its jewelery, a gold parrot.

Three of his four grandfathers were descendants of the Kings of Portugal, and through these of all the Royal Houses of Europe. Margarita Cabral de Melo and his sister Inés Núñez Cabral were descendants of Mem Soares de Melo and Nuno Velho Cabral, nephew of Gonçalo Velho Cabral. Other ancestors include Álvaro Martins Homem 3°Captain of Praia, and Beatriz de Noronha, maternal granddaughter of João Fernandes de Andrade.

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