Chico Mendes was born on 15 December 1944 in Xapuri, Acre, Brazil. He was married to Ilzamar Gadelha Mendes. He died on 22 December 1988 in Xapuri, Acre, Brazil.
He was a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist.
He fought to stop the logging of the Amazon Rainforest for the purposes
of cattle ranching, and founded a national union of rubber tappers in
an attempt to preserve their profession and the rain forest that it
relied upon. He was murdered in 1988 by ranchers opposed to his
activism.
