# Rosângela Lula da Silva

Rosângela Lula da Silva (born 27 August 1966), commonly known by her nickname Janja (Portuguese pronunciation:), is the First Lady of Brazil as the wife of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Previously, she was an assistant to the Director-General and coordinator of sustainable development programs at hydroelectric dam Itaipu Binacional, and a communications and institutional affairs advisor at electric utilities company Eletrobras.

## Biography

Rosângela was born in União da Vitória, in the state of Paraná. She moved to Curitiba during her childhood. Silva joined the Workers' Party at 17 years of age, in 1983. In 1990, she enrolled for studies of Social Science at the Federal University of Paraná and specialized in History.
Janja began working at hydroelectric dam Itaipu Binacional on 1 January 2005 and was an assistant to the Director-General, as well as coordinator of sustainable development programs. Between 2012 and 2016, she was communications and institutional affairs advisor at electric utilities company Eletrobras, in Rio de Janeiro. In 2016, she returned to Itaipu. She resigned from the company on 1 January 2020.

## Personal life

Janja and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 21 years her senior, began dating in 2017, the year his second wife, Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva, died from a stroke. They remained together when Lula was arrested and incarcerated for corruption and money laundering at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba in April 2018. Lula complained that they were not given conjugal rights.
When Lula was released, on 8 November 2019, he and Janja announced their engagement. They married on 18 May 2022 in São Paulo in a Catholic ceremony.

## First Lady of Brazil (2023–present)

On 1 January 2023, she became the 38th First Lady of Brazil, in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's third term. Janja established an office at the Palace of Planalto, the presidency's official headquarters in Brasilia.
Janja has regularly participated, alongside her husband, in meetings with heads of states and official events. She has also been a strong advocate of women's rights, and released an image of herself on social media with racial equality minister Anielle Franco in solidarity with the latter after she was named as a victim of sexual misconduct by human rights minister Silvio Almeida in September 2024.
In December 2023, she said she would sue social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after her Twitter account was hacked. Elon Musk, who owns Twitter, responded: "It is not clear how someone guessing her email password is our responsibility."
In 16 November 2024, during a speech about fake news at the 2024 G20 Rio de Janeiro summit, she sweared at Elon Musk, saying: "I'm not afraid of you. Fuck you, Elon Musk" (Eu não tenho medo de você. Inclusive, fuck you, Elon Musk, in Portuguese). Hours later, he wrote on X : “They're going to lose the elections soon,” responding to a post with Janja's video.

## Honours
### National honours

* Brazil: Grand Cross of the Order of Rio Branco (21 November 2023)

### Foreign honours

* Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry (22 April 2023)
* France: Officer of the Legion of Honour (28 March 2024)
* Italy: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (10 July 2024)