Maria d’Apparecida

Maria d’Apparecida Marques (17 January 1926 – 4 July 2017) was a Brazilian opera singer. She began her working career as a primary school teacher in Rio de Janeiro before becoming an announcer on various Brazilian radio broadcast stations. D’Apparecida had become a singer just as she was told she not join the city’s Theatro Municipal because she was black and faced racial discrimination in Brazil. She relocated to Europe, giving recitals, appearing in concerts, at festivals and in major French opera houses. D’Apparecida was the first black female Latin American to play Carmen at the Paris Opera and the first black Latin American woman to perform with the company. She was a recipient of various awards and decorations such as the Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, the Medal of the City of Paris and the Medal of the Order of Rio Branco.