Nair de Tefé

Who was Nair de Tefé?

Nair de Tefé von Hoonholtz, also known as Nair de Tefé, was Brazil's first female cartoonist, as well as a painter, singer and pianist.

Born in Petrópolis, Nair de Tefé was an aristocratic and noble lady of the Brazilian society. Daughter of the diplomat Antônio Luís von Hoonholtz, baron of Tefé and granddaughter of the Prussian military Frederico Guiherme von Hoonholtz. As a girl, she studied in Paris and Nice. In 1909, she published her first work in Fon-Fon magazine, under the pseudonym of Rian. Her caricatures were also published in, among others, the magazines O Binóculo, A Careta, O Malho, as well as the newspapers Gazeta de Notícias and Gazeta de Petrópolis. She had an agile hand which transmitted people's characters quite well.

She stopped working as a cartoonist in 1913 when she married Brazilian president Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca.

Nair de Tefé was a woman ahead of her time. As First Lady she hosted soirées in Catete Palace which became famous for introducing the guitar in society salons.

In 1914, Nair de Tefé organized a recital to launch Corta Jaca, a maxixe composed by Chiquinha Gonzaga. The following day, controversy and criticism developed because the presidential palace had promoted and disseminated music that had its roots in what the social elite believed were lascivious and vulgar dances. Bringing popular music to the presidential palace was considered at the time to be a breach of protocol, causing controversy in the highest ranks of Brazilian society and politics. Ruy Barbosa had strong criticism about the wife of the president.