Pelé
Pelé in 2014, photo by Celso Pupo/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Edson Arantes do Nascimento
Date of Birth: 23 October, 1940
Place of Birth: Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Date of Death: 29 December, 2022
Place of Death: Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil
Ethnicity: Brazilian [African, as well as more distant Portuguese Azorean]
Pelé was a Brazilian professional footballer, and actor. A forward and attacking midfielder, he played for Santos and New York Cosmos, and the Brazil national team. He was widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. He was Minister of Sports, from 1 January, 1995 to 30 April, 1998.
Pelé was the son of Celeste Arantes and Dondinho (João Ramos do Nascimento), a professional footballer, who played as a centre forward. His brother was professional footballer Zoca (Jair Arantes do Nascimento). He was named Edson after American inventor Thomas Edison. He was nicknamed “Dico” by his family, and later nicknamed “Pelé” at school, because of his pronunciation of the name of local footballer Bilé. Pelé was raised in Bauru, São Paulo, in poverty.
Pelé was married to Marcia Aoki, until his death. She is a Japanese-Brazilian importer of medical equipment. He had a daughter with Anizia Machado; a daughter with journalist Lenita Kurtz; three children, including professional footballer and football coach Edinho, with his former wife Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi; and two children, including professional footballer Joshua Nascimento, with his former wife, psychologist and gospel singer Assíria Lemos Seixas.
Pelé’s paternal grandfather was named João Ramos Do Nascimento. Jonas was born in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Pelé’s paternal grandmother was Ambrosina Rosa da Conceição (the daughter of Zacharias dos Santos Machado and Flauzina Cândida de Andrade). Ambrosina was born in Campos Gerais, Minas Gerais. Zacharias was born in Minas Gerais, the son of Francisco José Dos Santos.
Pelé’s maternal grandfather was Jorge Lino Arantes (the son of Custódio de Arantes Gonzaga and Jacinta Ponciana da Cruz). Jorge was born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais.
Pelé’s maternal grandmother was Maria Ferreira Naves (the daughter of Jeremias Ferreira Naves and Maria Eugênia da Silva). Maria was born in Três Corações do Rio Verde, Campanha, Minas Gerais. Jeremias was born in Minas Gerais, the son of Domencianno Ferreira Borges and Rita Esmeria de Jesus. Pelé’s great-grandmother Maria was born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais.
Sources: Genealogies of Pelé – http://www.geni.com
https://www.findagrave.com
Pelé’s maternal great-grandfather, Jeremias Ferreira Naves, descended from several Azorean settlers. He was probably of predominantly European (Portuguese) ancestry and likely considered white.
That’s not surprising since Pelé was from Minas Gerais, where Portuguese ancestry is very predominant, especially in the southern and southwestern parts of the state. However, considering Pelé’s phenotype, it’s unlikely that Portuguese ancestry got to above 15% in his composition
I posted his FamilySearch link, but the site removed it. He is probably griffe because he has a Bantu father and a mixed-race mother.
Through his mother’s side, Pelé descended from Thomé Borges Pacheco, whose family line traces back to several ancestors born in Azores, Portugal:
He has several documented ancestors from the Azores on his mother’s side.
This man was his maternal great-grandfather and was of predominantly Portuguese ancestry.
How much European do you think he was in total?
He is the best
what a player, what a life… The younger generations(including i Brazil) dont have much of an idea of just how big he was all over the world, his death is the single biggest news in major media national and iternational. Also, since this is a site made to explore heritage, i suspect his mother had some euro mix, given her fairly light brown skin and nose shape, wich was pass on to Pelé himself
*in Brazil
*sorry, his mother HAS some euro mix, she is still alive, she’s 100 years old