Brazilian Socialite Carmen Mayrink Veiga Dies in Rio at 88

12/05/2017 - 08h22

Socialite Carmen Mayrink Veiga died at 88 on Sunday, the 3rd. For years she had been suffering from tropical spastic paraparesis, an infectious disease that can spread to the brain, affecting body movement.

She had recently been hospitalized in Rio at the Samaritano Hospital before being discharged and going home, where she later died. Her daughter, actress Antônia Frering, posted a picture in honor of her mother on social media: the caption was a broken heart.

Ms. Frering, who was in New York at the time, boarded a plane to Brazil. The wake will be held in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, from 11am to 1pm at the Carmo Memorial Celestial Chapel, where a cremation ceremony will also take place.

THE FANCIEST COUPLE IN SOUTH AMERICA

Carmen was considered one of the most elegant women in the country back in the mid 1950s, while in a 1981 edition of "Vanity Fair", she appeared on a list of the most stylish women in the world.

Born in Pirajuí, in the countryside of São Paulo, Carmen belonged to a traditional family. Her father was a financier who also became honorary consul of what was then referred to as the Kingdom of Italy.

Carmen was already frequenting luxury fashion shows by the time she married businessman Tony Mayrink Veiga. The couple remained together until 2016, the year Mr. Veiga died.

The couple was known for hosting parties either at their apartment in Rio with a view of Sugarloaf Mountain, or at their apartment in Paris. Their jet-set lifestyle led "Vogue" to classify them as the fanciest couple in South America.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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