Rachel de Queiroz (, November 17, 1910 – November 4, 2003) was a Brazilian

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, translator and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

Biography

Rachel de Queiroz was born on November 17, 1910 in

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

, capital of the northeastern state of

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

. During her childhood, her family spent a couple of years in

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 ...

and

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

before moving back to Fortaleza. She began her career in journalism in 1927 under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

"Rita de Queiroz". She entered the national spotlight with the unexpected success of her debut novel '' O Quinze'' in 1930. She published another three novels before moving to Rio in 1939. She was also renowned for her ''chronicles'', short topical newspaper pieces. De Queiroz joined the Brazilian Communist Party in the

1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Owens Thompson, Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central Uni ...

; she was arrested by the Getulio Vargas police in 1937; she would break off with the party later that decade. In 1964 she supported the Brazilian military coup d'état. In 1964 she became Brazil's representative to the UN, and in 1977 she became the first female writer to enter the

Academia Brasileira de Letras The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL; English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literature, literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation ...

. She won the

Camões Prize The Camões Prize (, ), named after Luís de Camões, is the most prestigious prize for literature in the Portuguese language. The prize was established in 1989 and is supported by the governments of Brazil and Portugal. It is awarded annually to ...

(1993) and the Prêmio Jabuti. She died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in her apartment in Leblon,

on November 4, 2003, about two weeks before her 93rd birthday. The Brazilian Marines' base in the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is named after her.

Brazilian Academy of Letters

Her election, on November 4, 1977, to seat 5 of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, caused some excitement among the feminists of the time. In an interview, she declared: ''I did not join the ABL because I was a woman. I joined because, regardless of that, I have a work. I have dear friends here. Almost all my friends are men, I don't trust women very much.'' Received by Adonias Filho, she was the fifth occupant of the chair whose patron is Bernardo Guimarães.

Legacy

Her novel ''O Quinze'' was made into a film in 2004. On November 17, 2017,

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celebrated her 107th birthday with a

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Works

Novels

* (1930) '' O Quinze'' * (1932) ''João Miguel'' * (1937) ''O caminho das pedras'' * (1939) ''As três Marias'' * (1950) ''O galo de ouro'' * (1975) ''Dora Doralina'' * (1992) ''Memorial de Maria Moura''

Drama

* (1953) ''Lampião'' * (1958) ''A Beata Maria do Egito''

Collections of chronicles

* (1963) ''O brasileiro perplexo'' * (1967) ''O caçador de tatu'' * (1976) ''As menininhas e outras crônicas''

Non-fiction

* (1998) ''Tantos anos'' (co-authored with her sister, Maria Luíza)

References

External links

*
Hope.edu Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Queiroz, Rachel De 1910 births 2003 deaths Brazilian women journalists Brazilian women novelists Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters People from Fortaleza Camões Prize winners 20th-century Brazilian women writers French–Portuguese translators 20th-century Brazilian translators 20th-century Brazilian novelists Brazilian Communist Party politicians National Renewal Alliance politicians Commanders of the Order of Ipiranga