Maria Anais Ninh

Brazilian educator who pioneered women's literacy programs in the Amazon region during the 1950s

Maria Anais Ninh (1910-1968) was a visionary educator whose work transformed literacy rates among women in the Brazilian Amazon. Born in Manaus to a family of rubber tappers, she witnessed the extreme illiteracy rates among indigenous communities and poor settlers. In 1953, she founded the Escola de Alfabetização Feminina, the first school system specifically designed to teach women reading and writing through culturally relevant materials.

Her innovative 'mobile classrooms' used riverboats to reach remote communities, a method later adopted by UNESCO's literacy programs. Ninh's 1958 memoir details her struggles against local authorities who opposed educating women. By 1965, her methods had raised female literacy rates from 12% to 68% in the Amazonas state.

A 2019 biographical film "The River of Letters" dramatized her life's work. Her legacy continues through the Maria Anais Educational Network, operating in 12 Amazon basin countries.