Zuzu Angel

Zuzu Angel is well known in Brazil for two things: her work as a fashion designer during the fifties and sixties, and her sudden death that was later revealed as a murder caused by the Brazilian government.

She began her work as a seamstress, and later a fashion designer when she moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her styles became symbolic of Brazilian culture. Her work took her to international runway shows where people could easily recognize an Angel design due to its bright colors and unique patterns. Her work was well received in the U.S. especially.

During this time, Brazil had experienced several changes in the government system–from a coup d’etat in 1964, to an established military government, with Emílio Garrastazu Médici as the president. He achieved what was said to be an economic “miracle” for the country, meanwhile increasing the censorship of the press and enforcing harsher punishments for those who opposed the current regime. Zuzu Angel’s son, Stuart Angel, did just that. A grad student, he would later be kidnapped, tortured, and never found again due to actions taken by the secret military police of Brazil on June, 14, 1971.

Zuzu was not nearly as politically active as her son, but upon hearing of her sons disappearance, her role in the matter completely changed. She used all the resources she had to find her son, and let others know of what the military government had done to him. Alex Polari, a political prisoner who had been in the cell next to Stuart, wrote a letter to Zuzu of all the things he heard next door, and what details he knew of the way her son was tortured. Stuart, being a U.S. citizen, allowed Zuzu to expand her retaliation efforts abroad, so far as handing Henry Kissinger a translated version of Alex Polari’s letter. She also attempted to get her clients and friends, Joan Crawford, Liza Minelli, Jean Shrimpton, Margot Fonteyn and Ted Kennedy, etc. to get involved in the cause. One of her newest fashion lines at the time, was a politically conscious one that sported patterns and designs of caged birds, suns behind bars, war tanks and such.

On April 14, 1976, while driving under the Doi Irmaos bridge, Zuzu Angel died in a car crash. A letter was later found in her home that read “If I appear dead, by accident or otherwise, have been the work of the murderers of my beloved son.” The bridge was later renamed after her. Later, after the end of the authoritarian regime in 1985, the Brazilian government admitted to being involved in the staging of Zuzu’s death. In 2006, a biopic film was released, Zuzu Angel, depicting her life and struggles during the time of her son’s kidnapping.

Despite her fame and outreach, not much is known about Zuzu Angel. And against the odds of being a woman of color, and facing an enemy in her own homeland, Zuzu fought in any way she could. I count myself lucky that I was able to see the film and learn about a fellow Latina woman like her. It makes me wonder about other women in and out of Latin America who have stories that are yet to be told. Meanwhile I’m thankful for Marcos Bernstein and Sergio Rezendes’s efforts to put her story out there.

 

Additional Sources:

http://www.thebreeze.org/2008/04-10/top3.html
http://eyesonbrazil.com/2008/10/21/zuzu-angel-bio/
http://educacao.uol.com.br/biografias/zuzu-angel.jhtm