Marina Silva
She rose from a childhood in the rubber-tapping forests to become Brazil's most formidable and persistent voice for the Amazon.
Born 1958 (age 68)·Brazilian environmentalist and politician·Birthday: February 8·Baby Boomers
Biography
Marina Silva's story is one of radical transformation, forged in the heart of the Amazon. Born into a family of rubber tappers in Acre in 1958, she was illiterate until her teens and worked in the seringal. A bout of hepatitis forced her to move to the city for treatment, where she learned to read and eventually earned a degree in history. This journey from the forest floor to the university cemented her life's mission: to defend the people and ecosystems that raised her. As a young activist, she worked alongside Chico Mendes, surviving the violent conflicts over land rights. Her political career, from state representative to Senator and Minister of the Environment, has been a consistent, often lonely, crusade to place ecological limits on Brazil's development model. Though presidential victories have eluded her, her campaigns have permanently shifted the national conversation, making sustainability a central political issue.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Marina was born in 1958, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Marina Was Born
The biggest hits of 1958
#1 Movie
South Pacific
Best Picture
Gigi
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Marina's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1958Born
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1963Started school
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1971Became a teenager
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Could drive
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1976Could vote
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Turned 21
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1988Turned 30
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 40
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 50
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 60
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 68 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Served as Brazil's Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2008, creating major protected areas in the Amazon.
- Became the first rubber tapper and the youngest person ever elected Senator in Acre at age 36.
- Founded the Sustainability Network (REDE), a political party centered on environmental ethics.
- Received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996 for her grassroots activism.
Did You Know?
She contracted hepatitis and several types of worms as a child, which led to her leaving the forest for education.
She is a devout Pentecostal Christian, which distinguishes her from many left-wing allies in Brazil.
She lost 11 siblings to childhood diseases, a tragedy that deeply informs her perspective on social justice.
“We don't have to destroy to develop.”
