Almerinda Farias Gama
Almerinda Farias Gama was a Brazilian lawyer, journalist, pianist, poet, trade unionist, composer and politician. Gama was one of the first Black women to participate in Brazilian politics and plays an important role in the history of feminist activism in Brazil. She trained as a typist in Belém and as a lawyer in Rio de Janeiro, also working as an actress, teacher, and translator of Spanish, French, and English.
Her recognition as an important figure in Brazilian history is evident in the two entries dedicated to her in two dictionaries: the Dictionary of Women of Brazil: from 1500 to the present day and the Brazilian Historical-Biographical Dictionary. The latter, linked to the Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas, contains rare documents of Almerinda Gama such as, for example, her personal documents, and various documents, such as an article published on December 14, 1975, in the newspaper A Província do Pará, in which she recounts her work with Bertha Lutz in the Brazilian Federation for Women's Progress.
Her life story is the subject of the biography "Almerinda Gama: the Black Suffragist" written by journalist Cibele Tenório and published in 2025 by Editora Todavia.
Biography
Born in Maceió, Alagoas on May 16, 1899, she was the daughter of teacher Eulalia Maria da Rocha and merchant José Antônio Gama. In 1907, Almerinda Gama moved to Belém, after her father's death, and was raised by her paternal grandmother Almerinda Silva Gama and her aunt Emília Gama.She married the poet and writer Benigno Farias Gama at the age of 23, with whom she had a son, but lost the child while still in infancy. She became a widow in 1925 when her husband succumbed to tuberculosis. In 1935, she had another son from a relationship with an engineer, but both died before Almerinda Gama.
Political career
In 1929, she moved to Rio de Janeiro for work reasons, after discovering that a male colleague earned 300 réis for the same work she did for 200 réis. Therefore, she decided to work in a place where she could be better paid. Shortly after settling in the city, she became president of the Typists, Stenographers and Secretaries Union of the Federal District. She supported Bertha Lutz's campaign for the presidency of the Brazilian Federation for Women's Progress.In Rio de Janeiro, Gama graduated as a lawyer and became fully involved in political and feminist struggles. She was president of the Brazilian Federation for Women's Progress and was also a figure engaged in the fight for women's suffrage. As a representative of her class, she was eventually appointed, in 1933, as a delegate in the vote that chose the members of the constituent assembly that would draft a new Constitution for Brazil. Gama and Carlota Pereira de Queirós were the only women in the aforementioned Constituent Assembly.
She ran for federal deputy in 1934, but was not elected. She was a leader of the, alongside Plínio Gomes de Mello, Vasco Carvalho de Toledo, Waldemar Reikdal, João Vitaca, Sabbatino José Casini, Euclides Vieira Sampaio, Orlando Ramos and Carlos Nogueira Branco. She remained at the head of the Party until 1937, the year in which it was dissolved due to the Estado Novo coup d'état.
She gave several interviews about her politics throughout her life. One of these interviews took place in 1984, given to historians Angela de Castro Gomes and Eduardo Stotz, which was part of the Velhos Militantes project. In 1992, when she lived in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, she gave her last interview to the feminist organization ComMulher.
Her personal collection is located at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas, and it is possible to consult documents such as her voter registration card, her work card at the Typists' Union, her card from the Clerks' Association, as well as her articles: "Escreva-se a História" and "Atualidades Trabalhistas", from 1975.
Musical career
Almerinda Gama learned to play the piano in childhood and resumed the habit in old age, as shown by research by journalist Cibele Tenório. Gama claimed to have created 90 pieces of music, 29 of which were located at the National School of Music in Rio de Janeiro. These compositions are in various musical styles, such as waltz, samba and baião, and are undated. Some of these pieces were recorded by the Brazilian Piano Institute.In 1944, the song "Quem chora comigo" was presented at the Sally Loretti festival to benefit the musician Assis Valente, who was ill, according to a report in the newspaper A Noite, November 19, 1944, in the first column.
Tributes and death
Almerinda Gama died at the age of 99, on March 31, 1999, in São Paulo. The date of death of Almerinda Gama, previously unknown, was revealed by journalist Cibele Tenório during her research, who found the death certificate.On February 18, 1934, Almerinda Gama was honored by having her name given to the Almerinda Gama Gymnasium, which was run by Laurentino Garrido, in São João de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro, due to her contributions to education. The lawyer was also honored as the protagonist in the short documentary film Almerinda, uma Mulher de 30, directed by filmmaker Joel Zito Araújo, in 1991.
In 2015, the short film Almerinda, a Luta Continua, produced and directed by researcher Cibele Tenório in partnership with the Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil, was released. And in 2016, the São Paulo Municipal Government established the Almerinda Farias Gama Award to distinguish initiatives in the field of communication related to the defense of the Black population.
In 2020, Cibele Tenório defended a Master's Dissertation in History at the University of Brasília, entitled A Vida na Ponta dos Dedos, which aimed to investigate the life trajectory of Almerinda Gama, contributing to filling gaps about aspects of her life. The master's dissertation gave rise to the biography "Almerinda Gama: a sufragista negra", authored by Cibele Tenório and published by Todavia in 2025. The book project won the Todavia Nonfiction Prize in 2024.