Anna de Castro Belisário Soares de Sousa Peçanha (

Campos dos Goytacazes Campos dos Goytacazes () is a city located in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, with a population of 483,540 inhabitants. It is the largest city in Rio de Janeiro (state) outside of the Greater Rio de Janeiro metropolitan ar ...

, 21 March 1876 —

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 ...

, 9 April 1960) was the wife of the 7th president of Brazil,

Nilo Peçanha Nilo Procópio Peçanha (; 2 October 1867 – 31 March 1924) was a Brazilian politician who served as the seventh president of Brazil. He was governor of Rio de Janeiro (1903–1906), then elected the fifth vice president of Brazil in 1906. H ...

and the

first lady of Brazil First Lady of Brazil () is a title given to the hostess of Alvorada Palace. The position is traditionally filled by the wife of the current president of Brazil, but may apply to women who are not the president's wives, for instance, when the pr ...

from 1909 to 1910. She was also the

second lady of Brazil Second Lady of Brazil () is a title given to the hostess of the Jaburu Palace. This title is less used when compared to the title of First Lady of Brazil. The term second lady, made in contrast to first lady (who is almost all the time the spouse ...

from 1906 until the death of

Afonso Pena Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena (30 November 1847 – 14 June 1909), often referred to as Afonso Pena, was a Brazilian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as the sixth president of Brazil, from 1906 until his death in 1909. Pena was 1906 Br ...

in 1909, and the first lady of the state of Rio de Janeiro for two periods, between 1903 and 1906 and between 1914 and 1917.

Biography

Family and early years

Anna, whose

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

was ''Anita'', was born on 21 March 1876 in a Brazilian aristocratic family, in

. Her father,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

João Belizário Soares de Sousa, was a cousin of the

viscount of Uruguay Paulino José Soares de Sousa, the Viscount of Uruguai (4 October 1808 – 15 July 1866), was a congressman, a senator, a State Councillor and a skilful diplomat. Born in Paris, he distinguished himself during the 1850s when, as Minister of For ...

and son of Bernardo Belizário Soares de Sousa, counselor of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. His mother, D. Anna Rachel Netto Ribeiro de Castro, was the daughter of José Ribeiro de Castro, Viscount of Santa Rita, being, therefore, paternal granddaughter of the first Baron of Santa Rita and mother of the Baron and Viscountess of Muriaé.

Marriage and children

On December 6, 1895, at the Church of São João Batista da Lagoa, in Rio de Janeiro, Anita married Nilo Procópio Peçanha, at the hands of Father Pelinca, former vicar of the parish of São Salvador de Campos dos Goytacazes. The honeymoon was at the White Hotel, in

Alto da Boa Vista Alto da Boa Vista is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, 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, fi ...

. The marriage was a social scandal, as she left her paternal house to live with an aunt and, thus, be able to marry Nilo Peçanha, a poor guy and

mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

, although promising politician. Anita and Nilo had four children: Iris, Nilo, Zulma and Mário Nilo, but they all died shortly after being born. There were many social reprisals suffered by the couple, the Baroness of Monte de Cedro (Francisca Antonia Ribeiro de Castro Carneiro da Silva) cut ties with her cousin and best friend, being followed by the Viscountess of Quissamã (Anna Francisca Ribeiro de Castro Carneiro da Silva) and by the Countess of Araruama (Rachel Francisca de Castro Netto Carneiro da Silva). On one occasion when Anita was staying at Fazenda Bertioga, a mountain region in

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Geography Location Macaé is generally consider ...

, owned by her cousin Julia Nogueira da Gama e Gavinho, she was delighted with the talent of the camp cook Luís Cipriano Gomes, enticing her relative's servant, taking him to Rio de Janeiro. Cipriano served the Peçanha couple at Palácio do Catete, being the maternal grandfather of Angenor de Oliveira, the famous

Cartola Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola ( Portuguese for top hat), (; October 11, 1908 – November 30, 1980) was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba. Cartola composed, alone or with ...

First Lady of Brazil

Anita became First Lady of Brazil with the inauguration of Nilo Peçanha as President of the Republic on June 14, 1909, who, as vice-president, took over due to the death of President Affonso Penna caused by a

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. She was an active, participative woman, attentive to the obligations that the social and political world proposed to her, having been an unconditional companion, in addition to guaranteeing the success of Nilo Peçanha's political career. As First Lady, Anita and her husband spent a single summer at the Rio Negro Palace, for fifty days between December 1909 and January 1910.

President of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

, was due to an illness that affected the First Lady. The Tribuna de Petrópolis reported the fact in the column "Echoes and Facts":'''' On March 7, 1910, Nilo and Anita Peçanha received representatives of the diplomatic corps who lived in the Rio de Janeiro mountains of

Petrópolis Petrópolis (), also known as the Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Petrópolis mun ...

at the Palace. On April 2 of the same year, the Peçanha couple received about three hundred guests in the halls of the Rio Negro Palace, as a result of a party in honor of Petropolitan society, among which were

Ministers of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior ministers ...

, members of the diplomatic corps and important families. The Fire Brigade band and the National Mariners orchestra played at the social event promoted by the President and First Lady of Brazil.

Death

Anita outlived her late husband thirty-six years, dying on 9 April 1960, at the age of eighty-four.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anita Pecanha First ladies of Brazil 1876 births 1960 deaths Brazilian people of Portuguese descent 20th-century Brazilian people 20th-century Brazilian women