SAO PAULO, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian writer and literary critic Cleonice Berardinelli, one of the world's leading specialists in Portuguese literature, died Tuesday at the age of 106 from respiratory failure in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Academy of Letters confirmed Wednesday.
Berardinelli was a member of the academy since 2009 as a result of her literary career and academic work, as well as being a critic of Portuguese language works, especially of the Portuguese poet and writer, Fernando Pessoa.
"She was the oldest living member of the institution," the academy's statement read.
Berardinelli, who was born in Rio de Janeiro in August 1916, graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of the University of Sao Paulo in 1938.
Among her academic duties, she was a visiting professor at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the University of California in the United States.
