Who is the Flamengo basketball player who brought Brigitte Bardot to Búzios, transforming the seaside resort into a luxury destination

• Movies: Brigitte Bardot redefined the image of women in cinema
• Unwanted pregnancy: Brigitte Bardot did not want to be a mother and had a difficult relationship with her son

The actress arrived in Brazil in 1964, after finishing filming “As Malícias do Amor”, by Édouard Molinaro. After fights with journalists and paparazzi in London and Paris, Brigitte arrives in Rio accompanied by Zagury, her boyfriend, whom she met months earlier in France. Born in Casablanca in 1930, the athlete played for Paris UC and played 16 games with the French basketball team, finishing fourth in the Men’s World Basketball Championship in 1954, before coming to Brazil.

After landing with the actress in Rio in 1964, the couple went to Zagury’s apartment on Avenida Atlântica, in Copacabana, the southern area of ​​the city, the entrance to which was quickly invaded by journalists and fans. After days of hostilities with the press, Zagury made a deal for the actress to attend a press conference at the Copacabana Palace and then leave her alone in the city.

After the press conference, Brigitte and Zagury headed to Búzios, then a neighborhood in Cabo Frio. At the time, the fishing village had no telephone or paved streets, and the couple stayed with André Moura Sieff, the UN representative in Brazil, on Manguinhos beach. Simplicity was precisely what the star was looking for, and she spent months in Búzios, with the local population, in a routine without luxury but in exuberant and untouched nature. Friends of the athlete also lived with the couple, such as actor Arduino Colasanti, who fished with Zagury for the fish that Brigitte would later prepare.

Although discreet, the Frenchwoman’s stay in Búzios became an international phenomenon and helped put the seaside resort of Rio de Janeiro on the world tourist map. His second visit, in New Year’s Eve The year 1965 was marked by the persecution of journalists and photographers, which led her to leave and never return, although the mayor of Cabo Frio at the time, Antônio de Macedo Castro, granted the actress an honorary citizen title and land on João Fernandes beach.

Building on his relationship with the star, Zagury entered film production, participating in works such as “Je suis amour” (1967), “Trop petit mon ami” (1970) and “M comme Mathieu” (1971).

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in Paris on September 28, 1934, and trained in classical ballet at the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance before being discovered by cinema. At the age of 15, she was already on the cover of magazines like Elle, beginning her career as a model.

She made her debut on the big screen in 1952, in the film “The Girl in a Bikini”, but it was in 1956 that she acquired worldwide fame with “And God Created a Woman”, directed by her then husband, Roger Vadim. The film, full of sensuality and daring for the time, was censored in Hollywood, which only increased its popularity.

Described as “the woman who invented Saint-Tropez,” Bardot became an icon of female sexual freedom, defying conservative norms and causing scandals wherever she went. In 1957, priests in New York even asked the faithful to boycott their films, which the Vatican called a “bad influence.” The result was the opposite: queues at cinemas only got longer.

• Brigitte Bardot created the style: The actress helped popularize everything from ballet flats to sailor-style blouses, symbols of the uninhibited French woman.

During his career, Bardot starred in more than 45 films and recorded 70 songs, becoming an aesthetic and cultural reference. She created the “Bardot pose” – sitting cross-legged and looking provocative – and popularized the off-the-shoulder neckline, which still bears her name today.

Difficult relationship with his son

The actress had four marriages: with Roger Vadim (1952-1957), Jacques Charrier (1959-1962), Gunter Sachs (1966-1969) and Bernard d’Ormale, her current husband since 1992. With Charrier, she had her only son, Nicolas-Jacques, in 1960, but maintains a difficult relationship.

— I was not made to be a mother — Bardot admitted years later. — I love animals and children, but I was never old enough to take care of a child.

Nicolas was raised by his father’s family and only reconciled with his mother decades later, in 1996.

Passionate and impulsive, Bardot also had romances with singer Sacha Distel and actor Warren Beatty. “I’ve always looked for passion,” she says. — When she finished, I packed my bags.

After retiring from cinema in 1973, at the age of 39, he dedicated his life to the defense of animals and created the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986. The organization works in rescue, protection and sterilization campaigns. A staunch vegetarian, she donated more than £90,000 (R$657,000) to help Bucharest’s stray dogs and threatened to move to Russia after a French zoo refused to treat two sick elephants.

Despite his humanitarian career, his image is once again surrounded by controversy. In 2004, she was found guilty of inciting racial hatred in a book, and her support for the French far right, notably candidate Marine Le Pen, reignited debates about her public persona.