Last Thursday, December 29th, 2022, Pelé passed away at the age of 82, after a tough fight against colon cancer. The departure of the Brazilian soccer star Edson Arantes Do Nascimento shocked all soccer lovers. However, the one who suffered the most with the departure of ‘O Rei’ was his family: his daughters and his mother, Doña Celeste, who had just turned 100 years old in last November.
Precisely, the only 3-time world champion with the Brazilian team remembered his mother that day, to whom he dedicated an emotional message on his social media. Pelé highly appreciated the effort of his mother. She had it very young at only 18 years old. “Today, we celebrate the 100 years of Doña Celeste’s life. Since she was little, she taught me the value of love and peace. I have over 100 reasons to be thankful for being your son. I share these photos, with great emotion, to celebrate this day. Thank you for every day by your side, mom”, he wrote on his Instagram account.
Who was Pele’s mom?
Celeste was born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais in Brazil. She was the daughter of Maria Neves and Jorge Arantes. Her mother died giving birth to her tenth child, so she had to be raised by her older sister. At the age of 16, on July 29th, 1939, she married Dondinho (26), who was an amateur soccer player.
Thus, on October 23rd, 1940, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, was born. On the other hand, in 1966, Doña Celeste had just received the title of Brazilian Mother of the Year, promoted by the O’Globo TV network at that time.
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