Neuma Goncalves, Brazil's 'First Lady of Samba,' dies at 78

RIO DE JANEIRO , Brazil (Reuters) -- Neuma Goncalves, Brazil's "First Lady of Samba," has died at age 78 after helping turn the Rio de Janeiro slum Mangueira into one of the best-loved samba schools at the world-famous Carnival parade.

Goncalves, better known as "Dona Neuma" or "Lady Neuma" of Mangueira, died of a stroke on Monday. She was buried on Tuesday as hundreds of neighbors sang traditional samba tunes and beat drums at her grave.

"It's as if Mangueira had lost a part of itself," Elmo dos Santos, the president of the Mangueira samba school, told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. "She is a part of our history, she was our first lady."

Goncalves' father was a founder of the Mangueira samba school in 1928 and the first president of the group which grew out of the shantytown in northern Rio and boasted some of Brazil's most famous samba stars, such as Cartola.

Rio's annual Carnival parade and wild pre-Lenten festivities have since made the Afro-Brazilian rhythms and bittersweet lyrics about slum life famous around the globe.

Goncalves herself has been the president of the women's and the children's units of Mangueira and was a member of the Old Guard of samba musicians and dancers. She won the title "First Lady of Samba" after hosting Brazil's then First Lady Maria Thereza Goulart at a Carnival parade practice.

She was a familiar figure at beer joints in the hillside slum and invented a unique literacy programme that used local swear words to teach children to read and write.

Goncalves is survived by three daughters, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

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