Rachel de Queiroz

Biography

Rachel de Queiroz was born on November 17, 1910 in Fortaleza, capital of the northeastern state of Ceará. During her childhood, her family spent a couple of years in Rio de Janeiro and Belém before moving back to Fortaleza.

She began her career in journalism in 1927 under the pen name "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; 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. She won the Camões Prize (1993) and the Prêmio Jabuti.

She died of a heart attack in her apartment in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro 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.