Maria Paula Figueiroa Rego was born in Lisbon, on January 23, 1935.

Between 1945 and 1951 he studied at St. Julian´s School in Carcavelos. The following year, at the suggestion of his father, he entered the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he met the artist, still a student, Victor Willing, with whom he would later marry and have three children.

At this school you receive your 1st degree. Summer Composition Prize in 1952.

In 1957 Paula Rego returned to Portugal, living in Ericeira until her death. 1963, the year in which his scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ends. From this year onwards you will be able to between the two countries, Portugal and the United Kingdom, until 1976, when he takes up residence in London.

In 1983 she taught as a guest professor in the Painting discipline at the Slade School of Fine Art and in 1988 she held her first major solo exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London.

In 2005, six lithographs from the Jane Eyre series (2001-2002) were used by Royal Mail for the Edition of six stamps, in the United Kingdom. The novel, written by Charlotte Brontë, tells the story of a woman with a particularly tormented life path, but over which a strong and determined character overlaps, raising social issues such as emancipation; that of the woman. This is Certainly one of the author's favorite themes and one of her most worked on. In the same vein, Paula Rego did a series on abortion in the wake of the 1998 referendum in Portugal.

The author's private universe overlaps the themes, showing the beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, the humanity of her characters.

In 2009, the Casa das Histórias opened in Cascais, a museum dedicated to the history of history. her work and that of her husband, Victor Willing, with architectural design by Eduardo Souto de Moura.

This month (April/2017) the documentary film Paula Rego, Histórias & Secrets,performed by your child, is; displayed. As part of this debut, Paula Rego will have there are also exhibitions in London and Lisbon and the programming of a film cycle at the Cinemateca Portuguesa.

Honorary titles:

In the year 1990 it is invited to join the 1st; He completed the Associate Artist Scheme Program at the National Gallery in the same city and in 1992 received the title of Master honoris causa in Art from the Winchester School of Art, Hampshire. In 1999 she received two titles: Doctor honoris causa in Letters from the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and Doctor honoris causa in Letters from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; year 2000 – Doctor honoris causa in Letters from the Rhode Island School of design, USA; 2002 – Doctor honoris causa in Literature from The London Institute, United Kingdom; 2005 – Doctor honoris causa in Letters from Oxford University, United Kingdom and Doctor honoris causa in Letters from Roehampton, United Kingdom; 2011- Doctor honoris causa from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon; 2015 – Doctor honoris causa in Letters, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

In 2004 it is decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Sant'Iago da Espada, granted by the President of the Republic, Portugal.

In 2010 it is She was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to the arts by the Queen of the United Kingdom and that same year she was considered Personality of the Year by the Foreign Press Association in Portugal. He also received the Penagos de Dibujo Prize awarded by Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. And in 2013 he received the Grand Prize Amadeu Souza-Cardoso (Consecration), Amarante, Portugal. É She was elected Honorary Fellow of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, in the same year.

In 2016 he received the Medal of Honor from the City of Lisbon.