Maria Américo dos Santos was born on 6 June 1930, in Serra dos Aimorés, Minas Gerais, Brazil as the daughter of Antônio Henrique Américo and Tercina Cordeiro Américo. She married Antônio Derciliano dos Santos on 23 February 1983, in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil. She died on 22 September 2012, in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, Brazil, at the age of 82.