Accounting history and the feminine gender
the case Anna Jansen, queen of maranhão (19th century)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26784/issn.1886-1881.v14i26.306Keywords:
Feminine Gender, Emancipation, Accounting History, Colonial Period, BrazilAbstract
This paper aims to analyze and understand the role of Anna Joaquina Jansen ahead of the family
businesses from the perspective of feminine gender research in the history of accounting. Thus, the period
covered by this research was the nineteenth century, taking as its starting point the year of Anna Jansen’s
wedding with Coronel Izidoro Pereira, 1822, ending up in 1869, the year of her death.
The theoretical framework used in this study is taken from the literature that explores the concepts of
gender and accounting, and also adopts the concept of emancipation coming from this relationship, since
accounting as a social practice, it is capable of acting as an emancipatory tool for the benefit of disadvantaged
social groups. The main sources of this study are the handwritten documents of the nineteenth century, among
which are Anna Jansen’ inventory, port records, as well as requests addressed to D. Pedro II.
By analyzing the manuscripts and newspapers of the time it was concluded that Anna Jansen became
the owner of one of the largest fortunes in the region after becoming the widow of her first husband, Coronel
Izidoro Pereira, and through this fortune has achieved a prominent position in the Maranhão society. Her
performance represents a breaking of paradigms that tend to cancel the participation of women in economic and
political activities, and led to her recognition as a woman far ahead of the time in which she lived. Although it
was not possible to find technical records kept by Anna Jansen throughout her life, it has been possible through
primary documents to gain knowledge that she had great dexterity for the administration of her properties and
assets.
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