Vera Pedrosa
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Vera Pedrosa | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 January 1936 |
| Died | 3 February 2021 (aged 85) |
| Other names | Vera Pedrosa Martins Almeida |
| Alma mater | Federal University of Rio de Janeiro |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Known for | Brazil's ambassador to France (2005-2008); first woman to hold a senior position in Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Spouse | Luciano Martins de Almeida |
| Children | Three |
Vera Pedrosa (2 January 1936 — 3 February 2021) was a Brazilian diplomat and poet. Holding several ambassadorial posts, including that in Paris, she was also the first woman to assume the position of Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, the third-ranked position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hierarchy.
Vera Pedrosa Martins Almeida was born in Rio de Janeiro on 2 January 1936, daughter of Mary Houston Pedrosa and the writer and art critic, Mário Pedrosa. Her family home was frequented by artists, writers, art critics, philosophers and politicians. She spent part of her childhood in Washington, D.C. and New York City as her parents, who were Trotskyists, were forced into exile during Brazil's Estado Novo regime. She graduated in philosophy from the then Federal University of Brazil, now known as the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. From 1960 to 1967 she worked as a journalist at the Correio da Manhã and the Jornal do Brasil. In 1966, as the military dictatorship increased its repression of the press, she found that work as a journalist was becoming unsafe and insecure, as several papers had been forced to close. By this time, she had separated from her husband, the sociologist Luciano Martins de Almeida, and was looking for a secure profession that would enable her to bring up their three children.[1][2][3]