Actress Maria Ribeiro, known for her iconic role in 'Vidas Secas' (1963), died on December 29, 2024, at age 102, in Geneva, Switzerland, after a stroke. Born in the Bahian sertão, she led a life of twists and turns, from rural labor to the silver screen, debuting at 40 without prior experience.
Maria Ramos da Silva, baptized as Maria Ribeiro, was born in 1923 in Sento Sé, Bahia, the youngest of seven siblings in a family of rural workers. She grew up in the village of Boqueirão, now submerged by the waters of the Sobradinho dam on the São Francisco River. At three years old, she moved to Juazeiro due to circumstances, and at five, to Pirapora in Minas Gerais. At 15, she arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where she worked in factories and typography.
In Minas, she met journalist José Emiliano da Silva, with whom she had daughter Wilma. Back in Rio, she worked at Cine Pathé and Líder Cine Laboratórios, where she crossed paths with directors like Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Herbert Richers, Glauber Rocha, and Cacá Diegues. It was at 40 that her film career began: Pereira dos Santos convinced her to play Sinhá Vitória in 'Vidas Secas', an adaptation of Graciliano Ramos's novel. Despite being elegant and without practice, she accepted after a dialogue. "She was very different from the character, always very elegant, high heels, short hair. After a good dialogue, he convinced her. As she had no practice, he explained that 'the camera comes to you, you don't need to go to the camera'", recalls daughter Wilma da Silva, 80 years old.
The black-and-white film launched her face as a symbol of Cinema Novo. Roles followed in 'A Hora e a Vez de Augusto Matraga' (1965) as Dionorá; 'Os Herdeiros' (1969); 'Perdida' (1976); and 'A Terceira Margem do Rio' (1994). In the 2000s, she appeared in the documentary 'Como Se Morre no Cinema' (2002), about her own story, and in 'As Tranças de Maria' (2002) as Sá Virgilia. A short documentary, 'Maria Ribeiro' (2010), was filmed in her hometown with journalist Luís Osete.
In 1964, she moved to Europe for her daughter's cinematography studies but maintained ties to Brazil through business. She left poems that her family plans to publish in a book. She died in Geneva after a stroke, leaving Wilma, granddaughter Karenine, 46, and eight great-grandchildren, including two from grandson Krishna, who died the previous year.
