Pele is dead: the two details of his birth that he had to explain a thousand times

Edson Arantes do Nascimento passed into eternity. O Rei Pele, forever. As with the great figures of world football, they are known all the details of his life. In football and also in extra football. Even so, there are two pieces of information that the Brazilian star He had to clarify himself in life a thousand times, even more than the number of goals scored: name and date of birth. Because contrary to what one might assume, the error comes from the official documentation.

One of the premises of journalism is to try to verify the data with reliable sources, with oral testimony and available documentation. Sometimes it is difficult to access the primary source: the protagonist. Other times, it happens. In August 2010, on the occasion of the 2010 Libertadores final between Inter de Porto Alegre and Chivas, it happened. It was one of a thousand times he answered the question.

There, to the right, I was sitting Pele, oh king, the main image of the Cup, sponsored at the time by a well-known bank. It was a privileged place, an unmissable opportunity. On a page of the notebook given by the sponsor to the press, two names written: edson or edison. Below, two numbers: 23 or 21.

Pelé looked at the paper, smiled, took the pen and explained in Portuñol. “my name is edson. My father gave me that name as a tribute to Thomas Edison because electricity had recently arrived in my city, “he said and highlighted the name Edson. He immediately underlines 21 and explains:“It appears in the game that I was born on the 21st, but that’s a mistake. I was born on the 23rd and I always celebrate the 23rd”.

Why so much confusion with one of the most important footballers of all time? The main one, the official documentation. Pelé was born on October 23, 1940 but father of him, Joao Ramos do Nascimento, only recorded it on November 19th. The little future crack was just 27 days old. In excitement, confusion. The registrar of the municipality of Três Corações wrote: “Edison“Y”arrived at um (21) by outubror”.

Six months later, he was baptized on April 6, 1941. There his parents, Joao and Celeste Arantes, corrected the original error. In the baptismal certificate signed by the Conego priest José Fonseca, reference is made to “Edson” Born on “October 23rd”.

A Pele He always found it annoying to clarify data. Though that afternoon in 2010, before starting the group interview with accredited reporters from various international media outlets, she kindly and clearly explained the confusion about her birth. The one that still circulates on many websites.

Four years earlier, in 2006, the book “Pele. Memories of the best player of all time. An official biography. There, in the opening chapters, O Rei recounts: “In fact, on my birth certificate I am registered as Edison, with an i, but for my eternal disgust that letter often appears in personal or official documents and from time to time I have to explain why.’

Pelé adds: “As if that wasn’t enough confusion, my birth date is also wrong: October 21 is written on the certificate.” And then he reflects, “I’m not sure why that happened, Maybe it’s because in Brazil we don’t attach much importance to precision. This is another bug that carries over to this day. When I processed my first passport, they put my date of birth as October 21st and every time I renew it, it stays the same date.

Now that the world mourns the death of O Rei, it was worth remembering two curious facts about one of the legends of world football.

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