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Meireles Cecilia 1901 - 1964 (63)

I sing because the moment exists


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Cecilia Meireles (1901-1964), -Benevides Cecília Meireles de Carvalho her full name- was an important Brazilian poet, novelist and educator. She was born on November 7, 1901, in Rio de Janeiro; her father died after 2 months and at the age of three she lost her mother. She was raised by her Portuguese grandmother. In 1917 she graduated from the Rio School and began teaching in primary education while she also worked for the renewal of education; among other things she organized the first children's library in her city. In her spare time, she studied singing, violin, languages ​​and folklore while she was writing mainly poems, but also prose and articles.

In 1922 she married the Portuguese painter Fernando Dias, who suffered from deep depression and committed suicide in 1936. She was left alone with 3 daughters and was forced to work even harder, as a teacher and journalist to raise them. In 1939 she won the poetry prize for the collection "Viagens", one of her most important works. She remarried in 1940, the same year, became a professor and began teaching at various universities, mainly in Brazil; she also worked at the University of Texas as a visiting professor of Brazilian literature.

Having gained fame with her poetry, she began traveling around the world, participating in conferences and symposia, speaking on Literature, Education and Folklore. In 1953, in Goa, India, she participated in a symposium on Gaddy's work. In her last years, she was influenced by Indian culture and philosophy, she even began to learn Indian and Sanskrit.

Meireles left a large collection of poetry, prose, many books written for children, and translation of famous plays. She died of cancer in Rio de Janeiro on November 9, 1964.