Aracy Teles de Almeida was born on August 19, 1914. She was raised in Encantado, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro, in a large Protestant family. Her father, Baltazar Teles de Almeida, was a
Central do Brasil train conductor, and her mother, Mrs. Hermogênea, was a housewife. She had only male siblings. She studied in a school in the neighborhood of
Engenho de Dentro, where she was a classmate of the radio broadcaster , later moving to Colégio Nacional, in
Méier. Aracy would sing
religious hymns at her local Baptist Church and, in secrecy from her parents, would sing songs of
Candomblé deities at their places of worship and in
carnival blocks. ==References==