Zélia Amador de Deus, anti-racist icon, dies in Brazil

Zélia Amador de Deus, a prominent Brazilian intellectual, activist, and professor emerita at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), has died at the age of 74. A central figure in the anti-racist movement in the Amazon, her career spanned decades of work in social sciences, arts, and education.

Amador de Deus was a co-founder of the Center for Studies and Defense of Black People in Pará (Cedenpa) and played a vital role in advocating for quilombola communities and implementing racial quota policies in higher education. She served as the vice-rector of UFPA between 1993 and 1997 and was the first Black woman to receive the title of Professor Emerita at the institution.

In recognition of her impact, the Governor of Pará, Hana Ghassan Tuma, has declared three days of official mourning. Her legacy includes significant contributions to making academic institutions more inclusive and her participation in international anti-racism conferences, such as the World Conference against Racism in Durban.