Vinicius de Moraes

The late Brazilian poet, playwright, journalist, and diplomat Vinicius De Moraes was also, almost incidentally, one of the fathers of bossa nova. While producing his celebrated 1954 play, Orfeu da Conceicao (later filmed as Black Orpheus), de Moraes was introduced to composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, and the two forged a songwriting cottage industry that produced some of the earliest and most enduring bossa nova classics, such as "Girl from Ipanema" and "No More Blues." Before his death in 1980, de Moraes co-wrote hundreds of sambas and bossa novas performed by artists like João Gilberto, Chico Buarque, and Toquinho.