Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi is the first wife of Pele. The Brazilian football legend died at the age of 82 on Thursday. He had been fighting colon cancer for a while and was hospitalized on November 29. 

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Who is Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi?

Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi is popular as the first wife of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele. Pele fell in love with Rosemeri living in Brazil. They got married in 1966. The coming year, they welcomed their first child, Kelly Cristina in January 1967. Edson, their first son, was born in 1970. 

The couple later moved to the United States and resided in New York City in 1975. They welcomed their third child, Jennifer, a daughter in 1978. He had another child with Lenita Kurtz, a daughter, Flávia Kurtz, in 1968. 

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Pele’s disloyalty was ultimately what led to the separation of the couple. Pele was involved in a relationship with a teenage television presenter, Xuxa Meneghel during his divorce from Rosemeri in 1982. Meneghel was 17 at the time and he was 41. They ended their relationship permanently in 1986.

Pele also had an alleged relationship before his first marriage, with Rosemeri. He had a romantic relationship with a maid, Anizia Machado in 1964. He had denied the affair for decades. Anizia also accused him of fathering Sandra Regina Machado, her child. 

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Sandra fought a long legal battle to be acknowledged as his daughter. She sued him in 1991 and was proven to be his daughter after DNA testing, which he denied believing until 1998. She was never compensated for growing up without a father and the privileges that his other six children enjoyed. Sandra died in October 2006 without being compensated.