Journalist and academic Zuenir Ventura dies at age 95

Journalist Zuenir Ventura, aged 95, died this Tuesday morning (22), at home, as a result of pneumonia. The information was released by the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL).

Ventura had been an academic at ABL since 2015, as successor to writer Ariano Suassuna. Born in 1931, in Além Paraíba (MG), he had a bachelor's degree in Neo-Latin letters and was a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj).

He started in journalism in 1956, as an archivist. He worked as a reporter, columnist, editor, chief reporter and editorial director, having worked in several outlets such as the newspaper O Globo, Correio da Manhã and Jornal do Brasil, in addition to the magazines Fatos & Fotos, Cruzeiro, Visão and Veja.

As an author of books, he published works such as 1968 - the year that never ended, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and Cidade Partida, a book-report about violence in Rio de Janeiro, which earned him the Jabuti Reporting Award.

According to the ABL, his body will be laid to rest this Wednesday (23), at the Brazilian Academy of Letters and buried in the ABL mausoleum at the São João Batista Cemetery.