Rio de Janeiro

Famous Citizens

Olavo Bilac (1865–1918), Brazilian poet.

Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (b. 1949), became Brazil's youngest president in 1990, with his promise to cut inflation and reform the economy, but was impeached in 1992 by the Chamber of Deputies on charges of corruption.

Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto (1881–1922), novelist and journalist.

Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927–94), composer, guitarist, and pianist, who pioneered the musical style known as bossa nova (new wave).

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839–1908), great master of Brazilian literature.

Oscar Niemeyer Soares Filho (b. 1907), one of Brazil's most important modern architects, known for the fluid lines of his buildings.

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959), important twentieth-century composer, self-trained and influenced by the music of Native American people, credited with revolutionizing musical training in public schools.