Adelaide Benvinda da Silva Gordo de Morais Barros was born in Santos, in the province of São Paulo, Brazil on 17 September 1848.

She was the daughter of a lieutenant colonel of the Brazilian National Guard, Antônio José da Silva Gordo and his second wife, Ana Brandina de Barros.

[1][2][3][4] Barros met Prudente de Morais in her home city of Piracicaba in São Paulo, where he had become a lawyer.

For Morais, who was already an ambitious politician, the marriage to Adelaide provided an entrance into the political elite of São Paulo.

Prudente de Morais ended the so-called "republic of the sword" and moved fellow coffee producers into a central position of power in the country.