Born: 15 December 1944 · Died: 22 December 1988 · Age: 44
Quick facts
Date of birth15 December 1944
Date of death22 December 1988
Age at death44
NationalityBrazilian
BirthplaceXapuri, Brazil
Editor's Take:
Chico Mendes linked the rights of poor forest workers to saving the Amazon. His peaceful standoffs blocked bulldozers and put rubber tappers between the trees and the cattle ranchers. He showed that people who lived from the forest could be its best protectors. His murder by a rancher's family in 1988 caused international outrage. It helped bring protected reserves into Brazilian law. His name is now a symbol of environmental justice in Brazil and beyond.
Key Milestones
1975: Joins the rural workers' union in Brasiléia
1985: Helps found the National Council of Rubber Tappers
1987: Wins the UN Global 500 award
1988: Killed at his home in Xapuri
Francisco Alves Mendes Filho (15 December 1944 – 22 December 1988), better known as Chico Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese:), was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader, and environmentalist who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous people.
