Rosângela Lula da Silva (born 27 August 1966), commonly known by her nickname Janja (), is 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 ...

as the wife of president

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

. Previously, she was an assistant to the Director-General and coordinator of sustainable development programs at hydroelectric dam

Itaipu Binacional The Itaipu Dam ( ; ; ) is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. It is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world, and holds the 45th largest reservoir in the world. The name "Itaip ...

, and a communications and institutional affairs advisor at electric utilities company

Eletrobras Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. (commonly referred to as Electrobras, ) is a major Brazilian electric utilities company. The company's headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro. It is Latin America's biggest power utility company, tenth la ...

Biography

Rosângela was born in

União da Vitória União da Vitória is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. Its population was about 57,913 people in 2020. In the economic area, União da Vitória's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is US$115,364,648.65. History The colonization of ...

, in the state of

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

. She moved to

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

during her childhood. Silva joined the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

at 17 years of age, in 1983. In 1990, she enrolled for studies of Social Science at the

Federal University of Paraná The Federal University of Paraná (, UFPR) is a public university headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. UFPR is considered to be one of the oldest universities in Brazil. UFPR ranks as 37th best university in Latin-America and it is among ...

and specialized in History. Janja began working at hydroelectric dam

on 1 January 2005 and was an assistant to the Director-General, as well as coordinator of sustainable development programs. Between 2012 and 2016, she was communications and institutional affairs advisor at electric utilities company

, in

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 ...

. In 2016, she returned to Itaipu. She resigned from the company on 1 January 2020.

Personal life

Janja and

, 21 years her senior, began dating in 2017, the year his second wife,

Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva (''née'' Casa; 7 April 1950 – 3 February 2017) was the second wife of the 35th and 39th president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and First Lady of Brazil from 2003 to 2011. Biography In 1970, Marisa was m ...

, died from a stroke. They remained together when Lula was arrested and incarcerated for corruption and money laundering at the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

headquarters in Curitiba in April 2018. Lula complained that they were not given conjugal rights. When Lula was released, on 8 November 2019, he and Janja announced their engagement. They married on 18 May 2022 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

ceremony.

First Lady of Brazil (2023–present)

On 1 January 2023, she became the 38th First Lady of Brazil, in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term. Janja established an office at the Palace of Planalto, the presidency's official headquarters in Brasilia. Janja has regularly participated, alongside her husband, in meetings with heads of states and official events. She has also been a strong advocate of women's rights, and released an image of herself on social media with racial equality minister Anielle Franco in solidarity with the latter after she was named as a victim of sexual misconduct by human rights minister Silvio Almeida in September 2024. In December 2023, she said she would sue social media platform X, formerly known as

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, after her Twitter account was hacked.

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

, who owns Twitter, responded: "It is not clear how someone guessing her email password is our responsibility." On 16 November 2024, during a speech about fake news at the

2024 G20 Rio de Janeiro summit The 2024 G20 Rio de Janeiro summit (Português, Portuguese: ''Cúpula do G20 Rio de Janeiro 2024'') was the List of G20 summits, nineteenth meeting of G20, Group of Twenty (G20), a Heads of State and Government meeting held at the Museum of Mode ...

, she sweared at

, saying'':'' "I'm not afraid of you. Fuck you, Elon Musk" (''Eu não tenho medo de você. Inclusive,'' fuck you'', Elon Musk'', in Portuguese). Hours later, he wrote on X : “They're going to lose the elections soon,” responding to a post with Janja's video.

Honours

National honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Rio Branco Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

(21 November 2023) * Grande Cross of The Order of Cultural Merit (May 20, 2025)

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

(22 April 2023) * : Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(28 March 2024) * : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(10 July 2024)https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/1592592/

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lula da Silva, Rosângela 1966 births Living people People from União da Vitória First ladies of Brazil Brazilian feminists Brazilian sociologists Brazilian women sociologists Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Federal University of Paraná alumni 20th-century Brazilian women scientists 21st-century Brazilian women scientists Grand Crosses of the Order of Prince Henry Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (Brazil)