Zuenir Carlos Ventura (born June 1, 1931, in

Além Paraíba Além Paraíba is a city in the southeastern Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The name indicates its position on the far bank (from Rio de Janeiro) of the Rio Paraíba do Sul. It was known as ''São José d'Além Parahyba'' until 1 ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

) is a Brazilian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. He is a columnist for the newspaper ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of '' A Noite'', it was ori ...

'', and for '' Época'' magazine. He won the

Jabuti Prize The red-footed tortoise (''Chelonoidis carbonarius'') is a species of tortoise from northern South America. These medium-sized tortoises generally average as adults, but can reach over . They have dark-colored, loaf-shaped carapaces (back shel ...

in 1995 in the "reportage" category for the book ''Cidade Partida''. In 2009, his book ''1968 - O que Fizemos de Nós'' won the third place at the same category of the prize. In 1989, he and his team of journalists from '' Jornal do Brasil'' won the Esso Journalism Award for their reportage on

Chico Mendes Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes (; 15 December 1944 – 22 December 1988), was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the h ...

' murder investigation.1989 Esso Award
Zuenir was born in Minas Gerais and moved to

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 ...

during his youth. He had to work in order to pay his superior studies. His first job was as a wall painter apprentice, with his father. He was also a

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

at a bar and a

Dentures Dentures (also known as false teeth) are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable ( removable partial denture o ...

laboratory; an office-boy at a bank agency, a clerk in a shirt store, and an elementary school teacher. From this latter experience he created his will to study languages. He graduated as a teacher and taught for more than forty years at the Communication School of the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

and at the Superior School of Design of the Rio de Janeiro State University. His first job related to journalism was as an

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

at ''

Tribuna da Imprensa ''Tribuna'' (russian: Трибуна) is a weekly Russian newspaper that focuses largely on industry and the energy sector The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including f ...

'', when he was still at university. However, he would only become a journalist when Carlos Lacerda (then manager-owner of the newspaper) asked to his employees if anyone would be able to write something about

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

, who had recently died at the time. Zuenir offered himself and started his journalistic career.

Bibliography

* ''1968: O Ano que Não Terminou'' (1968: The Year That Didn't End) — Editora Nova Fronteira (1989, 2006)/Editora Planeta (2008) * ''Cidade Partida'' (Broken City) — Companhia das Letras (1994) * ''Inveja: Mal Secreto'' (Envy: Secret Evil) — Editora Objetiva (1998) * ''Chico Mendes: Crime e Castigo: Quinze anos depois, o autor volta ao Acre para concluir a mais premiada reportagem sobre o herói dos povos da floresta'' (

: Crime and Punishment: Fifteen years later, the author returns to Acre to conclude the most awarded reportage about the hero of the people of the forest) — Companhia das Letras (2003) * ''1968: O que Fizemos de Nós'' (1968: What We Did of Us) — Editora Planeta do Brasil (2009)

References

1931 births Living people Brazilian journalists People from Além Paraíba Brazilian columnists Brazilian non-fiction writers Academic staff of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Academic staff of the Rio de Janeiro State University {{Brazil-journalist-stub