Mãe Carmen, Ialorixá of Salvador’s Terreiro do Gantois, Dies

Overview

• Her death was announced early Friday by the Gantois association after roughly two weeks at Hospital Português for complications from a severe flu, with outlets reporting differing ages due to historical registration gaps.
• The public wake at the Terreiro do Gantois was scheduled for Friday at 11:30 a.m., and the burial is set for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Cemitério Jardim da Saudade in Salvador, according to the terreiro’s and G1’s notices.
• She assumed leadership in 2002 as the fifth ialorixá of the house founded in 1849, continuing the matriarchal lineage as the youngest daughter of the famed Mãe Menininha.
• Her stewardship combined religious leadership with social and cultural programs and earned institutional recognition including UNESCO’s Medal of the Five Continents in 2010 and Salvador’s Comenda Maria Quitéria in 2023.
• Tributes poured in from artists such as Maria Bethânia and Regina Casé and from officials including Salvador’s mayor Bruno Reis, Bahia’s governor Jerônimo Rodrigues and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.