Glória Maria Matta da Silva (15 August 1949 – 2 February 2023) was a Brazilian journalist, reporter, and television host. With a career that spanned since the 1960s, she is widely considered the first television reporter and TV host of

African descent Black is a racial classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and often additional phenotypical ...

to achieve national success in

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, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Early life

Glória Maria grew up in a low-income household in the suburbs of

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 ...

; her father worked as a tailor and her mother as a housewife. She lived with her grandmother after her parents divorced and was told her stories about her great-grandfather, who was hanged in the mountains of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

state. Daughter of an enslaved mother, her grandmother was also a beneficiary of the 1871 Law of Free Birth and was thus born free. Her grandmother taught her that she needed to work to be free.

Career

In January 1970, Gloria Maria met with the news directors of Globo TV, and shortly after became the special reporter for

Globo Repórter ''Globo Repórter'' is a Brazilian weekly documentary television show broadcast by TV Globo, on Fridays at 10pm ever since its premiere in 1973. It was formerly premiered in 1971, as Globo-Shell Especial. The show addresses issues related to th ...

, sometimes co-presenting alongside Sergio Chapelin. Glória Maria was the first black television reporter in Brazil, the first to present the seven o’clock news, and the first to command

Fantástico ''Fantástico'' (originally known as ''Fantástico: O Show da Vida'', Portuguese for ''Fantastic The Show of Life'') is a Brazilian weekly television news program broadcast on Sunday nights on TV Globo since August 5, 1973, created by José Bon ...

. She had to face many barriers and obstacles to become a successful journalist and reporter. For one year, Glória Maria worked two jobs, including weekends, before she acquired a position at Globo. She would start her shift at Globo at 8:00 a.m. and would leave at 8:00 p.m. Afterwards, she would attend pre-college prep courses and then go home to sleep for an hour. Glória Maria would wake up in the morning to go to her job at a telephone company. She received her degree in journalism from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (; PUC-Rio) is a Jesuit, Catholic, pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro and the So ...

. After graduating, she went on to presenting news on several Globo TV programs such as RJTV,

Jornal Nacional ; ) is the flagship television newscast of TV Globo. First airing on September 1, 1969, according to IBOPE ( Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics), in the week of September 28October 4, 2015, it was the second most watched progra ...

, and

. Soon after, she became known for reports that she would do while traveling to exotic places such as the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

Desert, and even covering events like the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

in 1982. She hosted Fantastico for ten years and took a two year sabbatical to travel to places such as the Himalayas before returning and taking the second position as a Globo reporter. She accumulated more than ten complete passports throughout her life and interviewed several celebrities, such as

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, and

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

Personal life

She was married but later separated because she and her spouse did not want to live together. She did not consider having children but later became a single mother to her daughters Laura and Maria whom she adopted as sisters from

Salvador, Bahia Salvador () is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality and capital city of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognize ...

in 2009.

Death

She died on 2 February 2023, in Rio de Janeiro as a consequence of a metastatic cancer that started in her lungs and spread to her brain. She was aged 73. Her life and career are depicted in the 2025

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

miniseries ''Gloria''.

Philanthropy

Maria saw children in need during many of her travels and decided to dedicate her time to travel around the world helping others. She spent time in India volunteering to help care for and feed children and beggars in the country's poorest cities. She also served children in poor areas of Nigeria. She continued her efforts when returning to Brazil and met her daughters.Glória Maria apoia Maju, do 'JN', após ser alvo de racismo: 'Não desista nunca'
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gloria Maria 1949 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Brazilian women writers 21st-century Brazilian women writers Afro-Brazilian women Afro-Brazilian television hosts Age controversies Brazilian television presenters Journalists from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian women philanthropists Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Brazilian women television presenters Brazilian philanthropists Deaths from cancer in Rio de Janeiro (state) Deaths from lung cancer in Brazil 20th-century Brazilian journalists 21st-century Brazilian journalists 21st-century Brazilian women journalists 20th-century Brazilian women journalists Brazilian Roman Catholics