Antônio Maria de Araújo Morais, known as Antônio Maria (17 March 1921—15 October 1964), was a Brazilian writer of pop music lyrics as well as radio sports commentator, poet, composer, and chronicler.Luiz Artur Ferraretto, ''E o rádio? : novos horizontes midiáticos'' Luciano Klöckner (Org.) - Page 75 "MORAIS, Antônio Maria Araújo de. Crônicas de Antônio Maria. São Paulo: Editora Paz e Terra, 1996. SANTOS, Joaquim Ferreira dos. Feliz 1958: o ano que não devia terminar. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Record, 1997."

Career

At 17 he got his first job presenting a musical program at Pernambuco's Radio club. In 1940, he arrived in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, "with four changes of clothing and five quid in the pocket", to work as a sports commentator for Radio Ipanema. The job didn't last long and he went back to Recife, where he married Maria Gonçalves Ferreira in May 1944. By 1948, he was back in

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

. His family now increased by a son and daughter, Rita and Antônio Maria Filho, he took a position as Rádio Tupi's production director, and was also a feature writer for the "O Jornal" newspaper. Antônio Maria wrote daily features for more than 15 years - a daily account of what was going on in Rio de Janeiro. Up until 1955, his by-line appeared on "Long is The Night - A Noite É Grande", the "Antônio Maria Report - Jornal de Antônio Maria" and "Copacabana Cop's Story - Romance Policial de Copacabana". In his Cop's Story column, Antônio Maria would frequently interview the protagonists of the moment, right in the police stations and on the streets of Copacabana or in the middle of the night. Author of

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s, he ended up writing pop music

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

. In 1952, two of his works: "Menino Grande" and "Ninguém Me Ama", were Top Ten hits on the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian radio. In 1959, in partnership with

Luiz Bonfá Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film ''Black Orpheus''. Biography Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in ...

, he composed the incomparable hits: "

Manhã de Carnaval "Manhã de Carnaval" ("Carnival Morning") is a song by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá and lyricist Antônio Maria. "Manhã de Carnaval" appeared as a principal theme in the 1959 Portuguese-language film ''Orfeu Negro'' by French director Marcel ...

" and "Samba do Orfeu". Antônio Maria lived his life to the full, both in Rio and in

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

. His great friend,

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

, fondly called him 'Pernambaioca' (a mixture of Pernambucano - a native of Northeastern Brazil, and Carioca - a native of Rio de Janeiro).

Death

Maria died of a sudden

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at age 43 on 15 October 1964 outside of a Copacabana restaurant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morais, Antonio 1921 births 1964 deaths Brazilian songwriters Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian male poets 20th-century Brazilian poets 20th-century Brazilian male writers