“…História, Ciências, Saúde -Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro I n studies of philanthropy and welfare concerning leprosy in Brazil, historians have noted the role played by certain women from the ruling classes, as of the mid-1920s, in supporting the patients through societies for the care of people with leprosy. These studies often note that these philanthropy and welfare activities were imbibed with an authoritarian nature and geared towards segregating the bodies of the poor, seen as potential foci of contamination of "healthy society" (Gomide, 1991;Ornellas, 1997;Monteiro, 1995Monteiro, , 1998Monteiro, , 2003Cunha, 2005;Santos, 2006Santos, , 2011Mattos, 2002;Poorman, 2006;Maciel, 2007;Curi, 2010;Nascimento, Marques, 2011;Carvalho, 2012;Leandro, 2013;Silva, 2016). However, the historiography has not investigated the socioeconomic status of the women involved in the leprosy cause.…”