his career, his family and his controversies

() — This is a glimpse into the life of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil and winner of the second round of the presidential elections on October 30.

Personal information

Date of Birth: October 27, 1945

Place of birth: Garanhuns, Pernambuco, Brazil

Dad: Aristides Inácio da Silva, agricultural worker

Mother: Euridice Ferreira de Mello, seamstress

Marriages: Rosangela Silva (May 18, 2022-present); Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva (1974-2017, until her death); Maria de Lourdes Lula da Silva (1969-1971, until her death)

Sons: with Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva: Luis Claudio, Sandro, Fabio and Marcos (from his first marriage and adopted by Lula da Silva); with Miriam Cordeiro: Lurian

Other data

He is known by the nickname “Lula”, which he formally added to his name in 1982.

Lula da Silva’s father was against education and believed that supporting the family was more important, so Lula da Silva did not learn to read until he was 10 years old.

He dropped out of school altogether after fifth grade to work full time.

He has nine fingers, since he lost the little finger on his left hand in an accident at work.

His first wife died of hepatitis in her eighth month of pregnancy, along with the child.

Dissatisfied with the lack of political representation of the working class in Brazil, he decided to go into politics.

Lula da Silva is a founding member of the Workers Party.

He believes that global institutions, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, favor rich nations and must be revamped to meet the needs of developing nations, where most of the world’s population lives.

He was a long time friend of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and visited him in September 2003. Castro supported all his presidential candidacies.

Chronology

1966 – I know become a metalworker and militates in the union.

1975 – He is elected president of the metallurgical union.

March 10, 1980 – Help found the Workers’ Party.

From April 19 to May 19, 1980 – As one of the leaders of a metal union strike, he is arrested by the police after a confrontation with the workers. He remains detained for 31 days.

November 1982 – He is in fourth place in the race for the governorship of the state of Sao Paulo.

1983 – Help found the Single Central of Workers, a national trade union confederation.

1986 – He is elected deputy in the Brazilian Congress.

1989, 1994 and 1998 – In these three years he is a candidate for the presidency of Brazil for the Workers’ Party, always coming in second place.

October 27, 2002 – He is elected president in the second round with 61.3% of the votes.

January 1, 2003 – He takes office as president of Brazil.

October 29, 2006 – He wins re-election with 61% of the votes.

September 30, 2008 – Reacts to the fall of the world and US markets: “We cannot become victims of the casino erected by the US economy.”

Fidel Castro, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Raúl Castro in 2010 in Havana, Cuba. (Credit: Ricardo Stuckert/Brazilian Presidency via Getty Images)

October 2009 – He is credited with helping Rio de Janeiro to win its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympicsthe first to be held in South America.

January 1, 2010 – A film that dramatizes the life of Lula da Silva, “Lula, son of Brazil”, is released in Brazil.

April 2010 – He is chosen in the first place in the list of the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine.

January 1, 2011 – He leaves office with a 90% approval rating.

October 29, 2011 – He is diagnosed with throat cancer.

February 17, 2012 – It is announced that Lula da Silva’s cancer is in complete remission.

March 16, 2016 – Accept an offer to become jchief of staff of his successor and protected, Dilma Rousseff. The appointment gives him some legal immunity in a corruption investigation and fuels political tensions in the divided country. Lula da Silva is sworn in as chief of staff on March 17.

March 18, 2016 – A judge of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil presents a precautionary measure that prevents Lula da Silva from being Rousseff’s chief of staff.

September 14, 2016 – According to the state news agency Agencia Brasil, Brazilian prosecutors file corruption charges against Lula da Silva and his wife Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva. The charges stem from the money laundering investigation of the Operation Lava Jato (car wash). Lula da Silva sends a series of tweets after the charges are known, calling them “fiction”. In a statement, her lawyers say the case is politically motivated and accuse the prosecution of jumping to conclusions.

September 20, 2016 – A Brazilian judge rules there is enough evidence for Lula da Silva, his wife and six others to stand trial on corruption charges.

February 3, 2017 – Lula da Silva’s wife dies.

July 12, 2017 – is declared guilty of corruption and money laundering charges stemming from bribes and benefits received from the state oil company Petrobras. Brazilian federal judge Sergio Moro sentenced Lula da Silva to nine and a half years in prison. He remains at large during his appeal.

September 5, 2017 – Corruption charges are filed against Lula da Silva, his successor Rousseff and six members of the Workers’ Party. They are accused of running a criminal organization to divert funds from the state oil company Petrobras. The charges are related to Operation Lava Jato. Lula da Silva, Rousseff and the Workers’ Party deny the accusations.

Former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, on June 1, 2022. (Credit: SILVIO AVILA/AFP via Getty Images)

January 24, 2018 – A Brazilian court of appeal unanimously confirms his conviction for corruption, which calls into question his plans to run again in an upcoming presidential election. The three appeal court judges also add two and a half years to his sentence, giving him 12 years and one month in prison. Lula da Silva remains free pending further appeals.

April 7, 2018 – After defy the order to surrender by taking refuge in a union building for one day, he turns himself in to federal authorities to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.

August 15, 2018 – He announces that he has presented the necessary documentation to register as a candidate for the Workers’ Party in the next presidential elections.

September 1, 2018 – The highest electoral court in Brazil prevents Lula da Silva from running for re-election due to his conviction for corruption.

February 6, 2019 – In another corruption case, he is sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison for accepting bribes in the form of renovations at his country house.

April 23, 2019 – The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil reduces Lula da Silva’s prison sentence from 12 years and one month to 8 years and 10 months, for one of his two convictions for corruption.

August 7, 2019 – Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court overturns a lower court’s order to transfer Lula da Silva from a cell at the federal police headquarters in the city of Curitiba, where his supporters have gathered, to a prison in Sao Paulo.

September 30, 2019 – Lula da Silva publishes a letter through Twitter in which he rejects the prosecutors’ request to transfer him from prison to house arrest. Seeking exoneration from him, she says that he will not trade his dignity for his freedom.

November 7, 2019 – Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court rules that defendants may remain free until all remedies have been exhausted. The ruling reverses an earlier decision that had contributed to putting dozens of powerful politicians and businessmen behind bars.

November 8, 2019 – He is released from prison after more than 19 months in prison.

September 1, 2020 – A federal court in Brazil dismisses a corruption case against Lula da Silva for lack of sufficient evidence. She was accused of exerting pressure in favor of the construction company Odebrecht.

March 8, 2021 – A Brazilian court overturns Lula da Silva’s corruption convictions, allowing him to run in the 2022 presidential election.

May 7, 2022 – He formally announces his candidacy for the presidency in the October 2022 elections.

October 30, 2022 – Win the second round of the presidential elections.