Zélia Gattai Amado de Faria (July 2, 1916 – May 17, 2008) was a Brazilian

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

, memoirist,

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, as well as a member of the

Brazilian Academy of Letters 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 found ...

. Gattai wrote 14 different literary works, including children's books and her own personal memoirs have been widely published.

Biography

Zélia Gattai was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

city in the neighborhood of Paraíso, state of

, on July 2, 1916, to a family of Italian

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

. Gattai's father, Ernesto Gattai, was an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

and came from the region of

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, following the social anarchist experiment called Colônia Cecília that sought to create an anarchist community in the Brazilian jungle. Her father was arrested in 1938 due to political oppression under the Vargas Estado Novo regime. Gattai lived in Paraíso,

for her entire adolescence. In the 1930s, Zélia Gattai entered the intellectual and social circles of the modernists of São Paulo and

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 ...

, becoming a friend of personalities such as

Oswald de Andrade José Oswald de Souza Andrade (January 11, 1890 – October 22, 1954) was a Brazilian poet, novelist and cultural critic. He was born, spent most of his life and died in São Paulo. Andrade was one of the founders of Brazilian modernism and a m ...

Lasar Segall Lasar Segall (July 21, 1889 – August 2, 1957) was a Lithuanian Jewish and Brazilian painter, engraver and sculptor. Segall's work is derived from impressionism, expressionism and modernism. His most significant themes were depictions of hum ...

Tarsila do Amaral Tarsila de Aguiar do Amaral (; 1 September 1886 – 17 January 1973) was a Brazilian painter, draftswoman, and translator. She is considered one of the leading Latin American modernist artists, and is regarded as the painter who best achieved Bra ...

Mário de Andrade Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (October 9, 1893 – February 25, 1945) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. He wrote one of the first and most influential collections of modern Brazilian poetr ...

Rubem Braga Rubem Braga (12 January 1913 – 19 December 1990) was a Brazilian writer of '' crônicas''. He was born in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim city, state of Espírito Santo. Braga was raised in his hometown, but at an early age was sent to the city of Ni ...

, ''Zora Seljan'', ''Paulo Mendes de Almeida'',

Carlos Lacerda Carlos Frederico Werneck de Lacerda (30 April 1914 – 21 May 1977) was a Brazilian journalist and politician. Biography Born in Rio de Janeiro, Lacerda was the son of a family of politicians from Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro state. He was the ...

Aldo Bonadei Aldo Cláudio Felipe Bonadei, also known as Aldo Bonadei (June 17, 1906 in São Paulo – January 16, 1974 in São Paulo) was a Brazilian painter of Italian descent. Early life Between 1923 and 1928, Aldo studied with Brazilian academic painter ...

Vinícius 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 ...

and others. At the age of 20, Zélia Gattai married Communist militant Aldo Veiga and had her first child, Luís Carlos Veiga, with him. Their marriage ended after eight years and Gattai ended up falling in love with writer and communist

Jorge Amado Jorge Leal Amado de Faria (10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in ...

. The new couple decided to live together in 1945 and had their first child, João Jorge Amado, together in 1946.

Europe

Due to political condemnation by the Vargas regime, Gattai and her family were forced to leave Brazil and decided to relocate to Europe. The family spent the first part of the five year exile in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where Gattai used the opportunity to get a degree in French Civilization, Phonetics, and Language at the University of Sorbonne in 1949. They later relocated to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

where they lived during the period of 1950 to 1952. It is in

that their third child, Paloma Jorge Amado, was born and Gattai discovered her passion for photography.

Return to Brazil

The family returned to Brazil in 1952 and moved into Gattai's parents house in

for the next eleven years. In 1963, the family moved to

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

in the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

and would remain there for the remainder of Gattai's life. While living in Salvador, Gattai began to focus on her literary career. Zélia Gattai died in Salvador on May 17, 2008 at the age of 91.

Literary career

Gattai began her literary career in 1979 with an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

about her early life and the reality of Italian immigrants in Brazil, titled ''Anarquistas, Graças a Deus'' ("Anarchists, Thanks to God"). This memoir quickly became a bestseller and it was dramatized as a

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

directed by Walter Avancini and created by the Globo Television Network in 1984 which allowed it to capture a large audience. Throughout her career, Gattai explored many genres including memoirs, children's literature, and romance novels. Many of her publications also included

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

taken by Gattai that allowed her to create photo-biographies to further her story. In total, Gattai wrote 14 works including three successful

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, ten memoirs and one

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

. On the death of Amado in 2001, Gattai was elected to the vacant 23rd seat in the

Publications

*''Anarquistas graças a Deus'' - 1979 (memoirs) *''Um chapéu para viagem'' - 1982 (memoirs) *''Senhora dona do baile'' - 1984 (memoirs) *''Reportagem incompleta'' - 1987 (photobiography) *''Jardim de inverno'' - 1988 (memoirs) *''Pipistrelo das mil cores'' - 1989 (children's fiction) *''O segredo da rua 18'' - 1991 (children's fiction) *''Chão de meninos'' - 1992 (memoirs) *''Crônica de uma namorada'' - 1995 (novel) *''A casa do Rio Vermelho'' - 1999 (memoirs) *''Cittá di Roma'' - 2000 (memoirs) *''Jonas e a sereia'' - 2000 (children's fiction) *''Códigos de família'' - 2001 (memoirs) *''Jorge Amado um baiano sensual e romântico'' - 2002 (memoirs) *''Vacina de Sapo e outras lembranças'' - 2005 (memoirs)

Awards and honours

Throughout her literary career, Gattai was recognized with many awards and honors. She was given the following awards: * Prêmio Dante Alighieri (Dante Alighieri Award) - 1980 * Prêmio Revelação Literária, concedido pela Associação de Imprensa (Literary Revelation Award, given by the Press Association) - 1980 * Diploma de Sócia Benemérita da Ordem Brasileira dos Poetas da Literatura de Cordel (Certificate of Meritorious Partner of the Brazilian Order of the Poets of Chapter Books) * Diploma de Madrinha dos Trovadores, concedido pela Ordem Brasileira dos Poetas da Literatura de Cordel (Certificate of Mother of Troubadours, given by the Brazilian Order of the Poets of Chapter Books) * Medalha do Mérito Castro Alves, da Secretaria da Educação e Cultura do Estado da Bahia (The Castro Alves Medal of Merit, given by the Secretary of Education and Culture of the state of Bahia) - 1987 * Diploma de Reconhecimento do Povo Carioca pelos relevantes serviços prestados à Cultura e ao Turismo, da Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (Certificate of Recognition of the People of Rio de Janeiro for the services given to the Culture and Tourism of the City of Rio de Janeiro) * Prêmio Destaque do Ano (Highlight of the year Award) - 1988 * Diploma de Magnífica Amiga dos Trovadores Capixabas, Espírito Santo (Certificate of Magnificent Friend of the Trovadores Capixabas, Espiritu Santo) - 1991 * Comenda das Artes e das Letras dada pela ministra da França, Caterine Trautmann (Commendation of the Arts and the Letters given by the French minister, Caterine Trautmann) - 1998 * Comenda Maria Quitéria pela Câmara Municipal de Salvador (Commendation Maria Quitéria given by the Town Hall of Salvador) - 1999

Titles

In her lifetime, Gattai was also awarded the following titles: * Placa “As dez mulheres mais bem sucedidas do Brasil” pela Mac Keen (Named in "The ten most successful women in Brazil" by Mac Keen) - 1980 * Título de Sócia Benemérita do Clube Baiano da Trova (Title of Meritorious Partner by the Club of Baiano da Trova) - 1981 * Título de Cidadã Honorária da Cidade de Salvador, Bahia (Title of Honorary Citizen of the City of Salvador, Bahia) - 1984 * Título de Cidadã Honorária da Cidade de Mirabeau (Title of Honorary Citizen of the City of Mirabeau) - 1985 * Título no grau de Grande Oficial da Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique, concedido pelo governo português (Title in the rank of Great Officer of the Order of the Infante Dom Henrique, given by the Portuguese government) - 1986 * Eleita A Mulher do Ano pelo Conselho Nacional da Mulher (Elected Woman of the Year by the National Council of Women) - 1989

References

External links

*
Zélia Gattai on Globo.com
(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gattai, Zelia 1916 births 2008 deaths Brazilian autobiographers Brazilian children's writers 20th-century Brazilian women writers 21st-century Brazilian women writers 21st-century Brazilian writers Brazilian people of Italian descent Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters Writers from São Paulo University of Paris alumni Women autobiographers Brazilian women children's writers Brazilian expatriates in France