namesake and would not cut his hair until the age of three, when he would march in the procession of 24 June dressed as the saint. Following the beliefs of the region, his mother dressed him in women's clothes in his first year of life. João grew up as a skinny boy in Yguariaçá along with his six sisters, Eufrides, Maria, Nair, Yolanda, Cila, and Neuza. Both of his younger brothers died prematurely. Rivadávia (born 1920) died of Meningitis in childhood, and Ivan (born 1925), to whom he was deeply attached, died of leukemia at 33. João left for the nearby town of Itaqui, because his father Vicente wished to form a partnership with Protásio Vargas, Getúlio's brother, after both leased a small refrigerator house in Itaqui from an English businessman. While Vicente ran the business for the following years, João attended the School of the Teresian Sisters of Mary, along with his sisters. Although it was a mixed-sex school during the day, he could not stay overnight at the boarding school with his sisters; he had to sleep at the house of couple of English people, friends of his family. It was in Itaqui that João developed a taste for both football and swimming. Upon his return to São Borja, ending his experience as a partner in the refrigerator house, Vicente sent João to the Ginásio Santana, run by the Marist Brothers in Uruguaiana. João attended first to fourth grade in the Santana boarding school, but failed to be approved for the fifth grade in 1931. Angry with his son's poor achievements at school, Vicente sent him to attend the Colégio Anchieta in Porto Alegre. In the state capital, João lived at a pension with friends Almir Palmeiro and Abadé dos Santos Ayub, the latter of whom was very attached to him. Aware of João's football skills at school, where he played the right-back position, Almir and Abadé convinced him to try out for Sport Club Internacional. João was selected for the club's juvenile team. In 1932, he became a juvenile state champion. That same year, he finished the third grade of the ginásio (high school) at Colégio Anchieta, with an irregular academic record that would be repeated when he attended the law school at Rio Grande do Sul Federal University. João graduated from high school at Ginásio Santana after being sent back to Uruguaiana. As a businessman, he