Zélia Gattai | |
|---|---|
 Zélia Gattai | |
| Born | (1916-07-02)July 2, 1916 São Paulo, Brazil |
| Died | May 17, 2008(2008-05-17) (aged 91) Salvador, Bahia, Brazil |
| Alma mater | University of Sorbonne (BA) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | See "Awards and honours" section |
Zélia Gattai Amado de Faria (July 2, 1916 – May 17, 2008) was a Brazilianphotographer,memoirist,novelist and author ofchildren's literature, as well as a member of theBrazilian Academy of Letters.[1] Gattai wrote 14 literary works, including children's books, and her own personal memoirs have been widely published.[2]
Zélia Gattai was born inSão Paulo city in the neighborhood of Paraíso, state ofSão Paulo, on July 2, 1916, to a family ofItalianimmigrant.[3] Gattai's father, Ernesto Gattai, was ananarchist and came from the region ofVeneto, following the social anarchist experiment calledColônia Cecília that sought to create an anarchist community in the Brazilian jungle.[1] Her father was arrested in 1938 due to political oppression under theVargas Estado Novo regime.[4] Gattai lived in Paraíso,São Paulo for her entire adolescence.[3]
In the 1930s, Zélia Gattai entered the intellectual and social circles of themodernists of São Paulo andRio de Janeiro, becoming a friend of personalities such asOswald de Andrade,Lasar Segall,Tarsila do Amaral,Mário de Andrade,Rubem Braga,Zora Seljan,Paulo Mendes de Almeida,Carlos Lacerda,Aldo Bonadei,Vinícius de Moraes and others.[2] At the age of 20, Zélia Gattai married Communist militant Aldo Veiga and had her first child, Luís Carlos Veiga, with him.[1] Their marriage ended after eight years and Gattai ended up falling in love with writer and communistJorge Amado.[3] The new couple decided to live together in 1945 and had their first child together, João Jorge Amado, in 1946.[3]
Due to political condemnation by theVargas regime, Gattai and her family were forced to leave Brazil and decided to relocate to Europe.[3] The family spent the first part of the five-year exile inParis where Gattai used the opportunity to get a degree in French Civilization, Phonetics, and Language at the university ofSorbonne in 1949.[4] They later relocated toPrague where they lived from 1950 to 1952.[4] It is inPrague that their third child, Paloma Jorge Amado, was born and Gattai discovered her passion for photography.[4]
The family returned to Brazil in 1952 and moved into Gattai's parents house inRio de Janeiro for the next eleven years.[3] In 1963, the family moved toSalvador in the state ofBahia and would remain there for the remainder of Gattai's life.[3] While living in Salvador, Gattai began to focus on her literary career.[3]
Zélia Gattai died in Salvador on May 17, 2008, at the age of 91.[3]
Gattai began her literary career in 1979 with anautobiography about her early life and the reality of Italian immigrants in Brazil, titledAnarquistas, Graças a Deus ("Anarchists, Thanks to God").[2] This memoir quickly became a bestseller and it was dramatized as aminiseries directed by Walter Avancini and created by theGlobo Television Network in 1984 which allowed it to capture a large audience.[3] Throughout her career, Gattai explored many genres including memoirs, children's literature, and romance novels.[2] Many of her publications also includedphotography taken by Gattai that allowed her to create photo-biographies to further her story.[2] In total, Gattai wrote 14 works including three successfulchildren's books, tenmemoirs and oneromance novel.[2]
On the death of Amado in 2001, Gattai was elected to the vacant 23rd seat in theBrazilian Academy of Letters.[5]
Throughout her literary career, Gattai was recognized with many awards and honors.[2] She was given the following awards:
In her lifetime, Gattai was also awarded the following titles:
