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Jair Bolsonaro.

Jair Messias Bolsonaro

Jair Bolsonaro — Politician
Born Campinas, Brazil
Citizenship Brazil
Age 71 yr Today

10 min read

Reading time

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5

Awards

TL;DR

Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil in 2018 with 57.8 million votes, the second-highest tally in the country’s history. Before that, he served seven terms as a congressman starting in 1991. A former army captain, he holds extreme conservative views and has expressed admiration for Brazil’s military dictatorship. He has appeared in documentary films such as The Edge of Democracy 2019 and Apocalypse in the Tropics 2025.

Identity & family.

KIN · 10

Names, aliases, and relatives of Jair Bolsonaro — birth name, kin, and personal ties.

Birth Name Jair Messias Bolsonaro
Nicknames Mito, Bolsomito, Bozo, Bolsonazi
Aliases President Jair Bolsonaro, Presidente Jair Bolsonaro, Dr. Andre Kalil
Parents
Olinda Bonturi Bolsonaro Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro
Spouses
Michelle Bolsonaro Ana Cristina Valle Rogéria Nantes Nunes Braga
Children
Flávio Bolsonaro Carlos Bolsonaro Eduardo Bolsonaro Renan Bolsonaro Laura Bolsonaro

At a glance.

STATS

Jair Bolsonaro by the numbers — life, work, and family.

71 Age
5 Awards
3 Marriages
5 Children

Who is Jair Bolsonaro?

BIOGRAPHY

Jair Bolsonaro — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.

Early life

Born on 21 March 1955 in Campinas, São Paulo, Jair Messias Bolsonaro was raised in a family of mostly Italian descent with some German ancestry. His maternal grandparents emigrated from Lucca, Tuscany in the 1890s, while his paternal great-grandparents came from Veneto and Calabria. In 1973 he entered the Brazilian Army’s prep school, the Escola Preparatória de Cadetes do Exército, before moving to the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras in 1974. He graduated in 1977 as an artillery officer and served in the 9th Field Artillery Group in Nioaque, Mato Grosso do Sul.

Career

Bolsonaro’s political career began when he was elected to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies in February 1991, going on to serve seven terms. Over 26 years he saw only two of his projects approved. His extreme right-wing views and vocal support of the military dictatorship brought national attention. In October 2018, he won the presidency with 57,797,847 votes 55.1%, defeating Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad. He was inaugurated on 1 January 2019 as the first democratically elected right-wing president since Fernando Henrique Cardoso left office in 2003. Alongside his political career, he has appeared in several documentary films, including The Edge of Democracy 2019, Coronavirus, Explained 2020, and Apocalypse in the Tropics 2025.

Personal life

Bolsonaro has been married three times. His first wife was Rogéria Nantes Nunes Braga, followed by Ana Cristina Valle married from 1993 to 2009. He has been married to Michelle Bolsonaro since 2007. He has five sons: Flávio, Carlos, Eduardo, Renan, and Laura Bolsonaro. Flávio, Carlos, and Eduardo have all pursued political careers. He also has a stepdaughter, Letícia Firmo, from Michelle’s previous marriage. His family has often been involved in his political life, with his sons serving as elected officials.

Legacy

Jair Bolsonaro is a divisive figure in Brazilian politics. His 2018 election victory, with 57.8 million votes, was the second-highest in the country’s history, surpassed only by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2006. Time 100 named him twice, and he received the Ig Nobel Prize and the Presidential Medal of Distinction. His admiration for Brazil’s military dictatorship and his extreme statements have drawn comparisons to Rodrigo Duterte and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, as well as to Donald Trump. His presidency is documented in films like The Edge of Democracy and Apocalypse in the Tropics, which explore his impact on democracy and public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. He reshaped Brazilian conservatism and polarized the nation.

Awards & honors.

AWARDS · 4

Every award, honor, and recognition received by Jair Bolsonaro — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.

  • Time 100
  • Ig Nobel Prize
  • Medalha do Pacificador
  • Presidential Medal of Distinction

Notable quotes.

QUOTES · 6

A wall of memorable lines from Jair Bolsonaro — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.

  • So What If You Die! I’m Not a Gravedigger!

  • I’ve Just Taken a Blood Exam. I Was a Bit Weak Yesterday. They Have Also Found a Bit of an Infection. I’m Taking Antibiotics Now. It Must Have Been Those 20 Days Inside the House, We Catch Other Things. I’ve Caught Mold, Mold in My Lungs. It Must Be That.

  • I Reaffirm My Commitment to Building a Society Without Discrimination or Division.

  • Everyone Has to Buy Rifles, Man. an Armed People Will Never Be Enslaved.

  • Fidel Castro Has Died… the Exterminator of Freedoms and Promoter of Misery Is Gone. the Democratic World Wishes Him an Eternal Stay in the Depths of Hell.

  • This Is Our Flag, Which Will Never Be Red. It Will Only Be Red If Our Blood Is Needed to Keep It Green and Yellow.

Did you know?

FACTS · 9

Little-known facts about Jair Bolsonaro — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.

  1. His ancestry is predominantly Italian with some German roots. His paternal great-grandparents came from Veneto and Calabria in Italy, and his German ancestry traces to Carl Hintze from Hamburg who emigrated to Brazil in 1883. His maternal grandparents were born in Lucca, Tuscany and arrived in Brazil in the 1890s.

  2. Serving as a congressman for seven terms, he was first elected to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies in February 1991 and had only two projects approved in over 26 years.

  3. In the 2018 Brazilian presidential election, he won 57,797,847 popular votes, 55.1% of the total, defeating left-wing Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad who received 44.9%. This vote tally is the Social Liberal Party’s best ever in a presidential election and second only to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 2006 result with 58,295,042 votes.

  4. Elected president of Brazil on 28 October 2018.

  5. An avowed fan of Donald Trump, often called the Brazilian Trump for his extreme conservative views. Journalist Glenn Greenwald contested this, saying he is closer to Rodrigo Duterte or Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

  6. He openly admires Brazil’s military dictatorship that ruled from 1964 to 1985 after a coup d’état by the Armed Forces.

  7. Inaugurated as the 38th President of Brazil on 1 January 2019, he became the first democratically elected right-wing president since Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party who served from 1995 to 2003.

  8. He has five sons: Flávio, Carlos, Eduardo, Renan, and Laura Bolsonaro.

  9. He has a stepdaughter, Letícia Firmo, daughter of Michelle and Marcos Santos da Silva.

You wanted to know.

FAQ · 33

Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Jair Bolsonaro.

Audited & updated by

Michael Hayes

Senior Copy Editor & Editorial Fact Reviewer

Michael is the last person to read a profile before it goes live, which makes him the one who catches what everyone else missed. 5 years as a copy editor has given him a sharp sense for what's off. A wrong year, a vague credit, a sentence that almost makes sense but doesn't quite. He's especially thorough with filmographies. He'll tell you that's where most of the errors hide. He's right.

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