Professor and cultural activist Eneida Agra Maracajá received, on Tuesday night (10), the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the State University of Paraíba (UEPB). The ceremony took place at 7pm, at the Teatro Municipal Severino Cabral, in Campina Grande. The honor recognizes more than five decades of work dedicated to education and the development of the arts in Paraíba.
The granting of the title was unanimously approved by the University Council (Consuni) of UEPB, in a meeting held on September 23rd. The honor is intended for personalities who stand out for their knowledge or performance in the arts, sciences, philosophy, letters and understanding between peoples.
Eneida's trajectory is marked by the creation of cultural and educational initiatives that bring art closer to the population. Among the works are the Campina Grande Winter Festival (FICG), Tamanquinho das Artes and Cultura no Presídio.
In an interview with TV Paraíba, Eneida Maracajá highlighted her happiness with the recognition and also recalled that she spent time at UEPB as a visiting professor at the institution for a long period.
"A lot of emotion, gratitude for the recognition of a life, a whole story of commitment, of dedication, including with UEPB itself, which before being UEPB, Furne, whose first rector was Edvaldo do Ó, already had a deep respect and recognition for our work at a time when I was still an early childhood education teacher", he declared.
Trajectory of Eneida Agra Maracajá
Eneida Agra Maracajá is the creator of the Campina Grande Winter Festival (FICG), created in the 1970s and which completed 51 years in 2026.
The festival arose from an event dedicated to theater, the National Theater Festival (FENAT), held in 1974. It then began to bring together different artistic manifestations, such as theater, dance, music, visual arts and literature.
In 2019, in an interview with g1, Eneida recalled the creation of the festival and said that, in the first years, artists from different states arrived in Campina Grande to participate in the activities. According to her, the event began with support from federal, state and municipal resources, as well as donations from city residents.
In addition to FICG, Eneida created cultural projects aimed at the population, such as Cultura no Presídio, held for 13 years in the Serrotão Penitentiary Complex, and Tamanquinhos das Artes, developed with children in situations of social vulnerability.
She was also director of the Teatro Municipal Severino Cabral for two terms and Secretary of Culture of Campina Grande between 2011 and 2012. She is also the founder of the Solidarium Institute, an entity responsible for developing artistic, educational and social projects.
Eneida has a degree in Pedagogy and a master's degree in Education. She is an effective professor at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) and has worked at UEPB itself and at the Catholic Faculty of Philosophy of Campina Grande.
In 2025, the Dean of Culture of UEPB articulated, together with the Legislative Assembly of Paraíba, the recognition of the Winter Festival as Intangible Heritage of Paraíba Culture.
In April 2026, Eneida released the book "The Theater in Popular Education: dialogues between Freire and Boal in an experience in the Mandacaru neighborhood", published by the Editora da Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (EDUEPB) and the publisher A União.
The work takes up the professor's master's research, defended in 1985, and presents an educational experience carried out with residents of the Mandacaru neighborhood, in João Pessoa. In the initiative, theater was used as a tool to address participants' daily situations.
