Leila Barbara (April 9, 1938 – June 2, 2024) was a Brazilian linguist known for her work in applied linguistics and systemic functional linguistics, of which she was considered a pioneer in Brazil.
[3][4] She attended the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), graduating with a degree in Anglo-Germanic literature in 1960 and a doctorate in English in 1971.
[5] Beginning in 1965, she was a longtime professor at PUC-SP, where she helped found the school's applied linguistics program.
[6] She worked in various areas of linguistics, particularly systemic functional linguistics, with an emphasis on Brazilian Portuguese, though she also studied English and Spanish.
[6] Barbara died in 2024, in São Paulo.