Ana Jacinta de São José, known as Dona Beja ( January 2, 1800, December 20, 1873 ) was a Brazilian historical personality in the 19th century, who had been known to be influential in the region of

Araxá Araxá () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located approximately 370 kilometers (230 miles) northwest of the state capital Belo Horizonte, with an area of , and designated as the urban perimeter. As of 2022, the popul ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The Brazilian Soap Opera , was directed by

Herval Rossano Herval Abreu Pais (April 23, 1935 – May 8, 2007), better known by his stage name Herval Rossano, was a Brazilian TV actor and director from Campos dos Goytacazes. He directed both the original 1976 version and the 2004 remake of ''Isaura th ...

in 1986 which was written by Wilson Aguiar Filho and was based on Dona's life events. The opera was produced by

Rede Manchete Rede Manchete (; lit.: Headline Network; also known as TV Manchete or only Manchete) was a Brazilian television network that was founded in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1983 by the Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and businessman Adolpho Bloch. The ...

and its musical scores were directed by

Wagner Tiso Wagner Tiso Veiga (born 12 December 1945) is a musician, arranger, conductor, pianist and composer from Brazil. Born in Três Pontas, Tiso learned music theory with Paulo Moura and specialised in keyboards. In 1970, he joined Som Imaginário, work ...

. In 2010, the Spanish remake of the production was produced by Telefutura in 2010.

Biography

Ana arrived in Araxá with her mother and grandfather in 1805. While attaining youth, Ana's beauty is known to cause envy in other women. It is said, throughout her life, ''Dona Beja'', as she became known, irritated women and enchanted men. She met farmer ''Manoel Fernando Sampaio (Antonio)'', her catechism colleague before she was abducted and forcibly for taken to Paracatu, with whom she ended up having a long relationship years later. She received the nickname “Beja” from her grandmother as she compared it to the sweetness and beauty of the “kiss” flower. In 1815, she was kidnapped by the King's ombudsman, ''Joaquim Inácio Silveira da Motta'', who had been fascinated by her beauty. His grandfather ended up getting killed by the ombudsman while trying to avoid her abduction. For two years, Beja lived as a lover of the ombudsman in Vila do Paracatu do Príncipe. After that, she returned to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

at the request of

Dom João VI '' Dom'' John VI (; 13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826), known as "the Clement" (), was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves from 1816 to 1825, and after the recognition of Brazil's independence, titular Emperor of Brazil a ...

. Upon arriving in Araxá, she faced a hostile environment. Conservative local society did not agree to see her as a victim, but as a seductive woman with questionable behavior and the women of the city considered it a great risk to the ethical values of the time. She decided to set up a brothel while facing such situations and named it as ''Chácara do Jatobá''. At her brothel, one day ''Antonio'' invaded and consummated with Beja and consequently she gave birth to a gild child. Beja then decided to leave Araxá with her daughter in the year 1853. During the rest of her life she stayed at Estrela do Sul and its known that she made a fortune by trading gold and diamond. On December 20, 1873, she died of

nephritis Nephritis is inflammation of the kidneys and may involve the glomeruli, tubules, or interstitial tissue surrounding the glomeruli and tubules. It is one of several different types of nephropathy. Types * Glomerulonephritis is inflammation ...

and was buried in a coffin decorated with zinc, which is suspected to have been found in June 2011, during an excavation for the construction of a fountain in Estrela do Sul, where there was the old cemetery. There is a museum in her name, '' Dona Beja Museum'' situated in

Notes

* Alvim, M. L., Pedrosa, J. (1979). Romanceiro de Dona Beja. Brazil: Fontana. * Duguid, J. (1968). Pleasures of the spa; Pan Am's guide to the great health resorts of the world. New York: Macmillan. * D'Eça, F. L. (1977). The Diary of a Foreign Service Wife: (assignment to Brazil). United States: W. S. Sullwold Pub. * Nossa história. (2005). Brazil: Biblioteca Nacional.

References

{{Authority control 1873 deaths 1800 births People from Araxá 19th-century Brazilian women 19th-century Brazilian people People from Minas Gerais Brazilian socialites Brazilian folklore Brazilian women in business