Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes[1] (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes (Brazilian Portuguese: [viˈnisjuʒ dʒi moˈɾajʃ]) and nicknamed "O Poetinha" ("The Little Poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright.

Fleeing the Copacabana Fort revolt, his parents moved to Governador Island while Moraes remained at his grandfather's home in Botafogo to finish school.

Beginning in 1924, Moraes attended St. Ignatius, a Jesuit high school, where he sang in the choir and wrote theatrical sketches.

Soon after, he published his first two collections of poetry: Caminho para a distancia ("Path into the Distance") (1933) and Forma e exegese ("Form and Exegesis").

Two years later, he won a British Council fellowship to study English language and literature at Magdalen College, Oxford University.

[9] He was considered one of the most prominent of the "Generation of '45", a group of Brazilian writers in the 1930s and 1940s who rejected early modernism in favor of traditional forms and vocabulary.

Shortly after, he was hired to accompany American writer Waldo Frank, a literary acquaintance, on tour across northern Brazil.

[13] In 1943, Moraes passed the MRE admission test on his second attempt and as his first posting was assigned as vice-consul at the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles, California.

Jobim wrote "Se todos fossem iguais a você" ("If Others Were Like You"), "Um nome de mulher" ("A Woman's Name"), and other songs included in the production.

The play was staged in 1956 in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, having its text published in a deluxe edition illustrated by Carlos Scliar.

His first undertaking as entertainer ended in 1963, when he returned to his post in the Brazilian representation at UNESCO, after his marriage to Nelita Abreu Rocha, his fourth wife.

[2] The film was a co-production among France, Italy, and Brazil and included "A felicidade" ("Happiness"), a song by Jobim and Moraes, which became an international hit.

[15] In the 1970s, Moraes collaborated with Antônio Pecci Filho, a guitarist and vocalist nicknamed Toquinho on musical and literary works.

He married three women in succession: Cristina Gurjão, with whom he had a daughter, Maria; the actress Gesse Gessy; and the Argentinian Marta Rodrigues Santamaria.

Moraes sat onstage at a table with a checked tablecloth and a bottle of whiskey, chatting and telling amusing stories to the audience in French, English, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

Moraes was a chain smoker and alcoholic who said, O uísque é o melhor amigo do homem—é o cão engarrafado ("Whiskey is man's best friend, it's the dog in a bottle"),[16][17] After a long period of poor health, which included several visits to rehabilitation clinics, he died at his home in Rio de Janeiro on 9 July 1980, at the age of 66, in the company of his ninth wife, Gilda de Queirós Mattoso, and the faithful Toquinho.