Portrait of Marielle Franco

Birthday profile

Marielle Franco

Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician, feminist, and human rights activist (died 2018)

Born
July 27, 1979
Died
March 14, 2018
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1979

About Marielle Franco

Marielle Franco (Portuguese pronunciation: [maɾiˈɛli ˈfɾɐ̃ku]; born Marielle Francisco da Silva, 27 July 1979 – 14 March 2018) was a Brazilian politician, sociologist, feminist, socialist and human rights activist. Franco served as a city councillor of the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro for the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) from January 2017 until her assassination. On 14 March 2018, while in a car after delivering a speech in the north of Rio de Janeiro, Franco and her driver were shot multiple times and killed by two former police officers travelling in another vehicle. Franco had been an outspoken critic of police brutality and extrajudicial killings, as well as the February 2018 federal intervention by Brazilian president Michel Temer in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which resulted in the deployment of the army in police operations. In March 2019, Ronnie Lessa and Élcio Vieira de Queiroz were arrested and charged with the murder of Marielle Franco and her driver. They confessed to the double homicide and were also convicted of the attempted murder of Fernanda Chaves, Franco's Press Secretary, who was also in the car at the time. Franco raised her daughter without the father's help and worked as a pre-school teacher on a minimum wage.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Marielle Franco was born

Marielle Franco was born in 1979. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1979

  • #1 song"My Sharona" – The Knack
  • Top movieKramer vs. Kramer
  • Top TV showLaverne & Shirley
  • Best-selling bookThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports moment"Miracle on Ice" (1980 — actually)
  • Top headlineIran hostage crisis begins
  • Technology milestoneSony Walkman released — portable music goes mainstream
  • Defining fadSony Walkman — portable music revolution
  • Notable inventionSony Walkman
  • World population4.38 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJimmy Carter
  • Sports championPittsburgh Pirates (World Series)
  • Also wonSeattle SuperSonics (NBA)
  • U.S. population225.1M

1979 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Marielle Franco's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19792026
Gas$0.86$3.45/gal
Average home$62,900$435,000
Average income$19,554$67,500
Minimum wage$2.90$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.51$11.95
Postage stamp$0.15$0.73
Population225.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.