Born Marcus Vinicius da Cruz e Mello Moraes, son of Clodoaldo da Silva Pereira Moraes - a City Hall officer, as well as poet and amateur guitar player - and Lidia Cruz - a housewife and amateur pianist - Vinícius was born in 1913 in the neighborhood of Gávea, then a rural suburb of Rio de Janeiro. In 1916, he moved with his family to various addresses at the downtown quarter of Botafogo, where he attended classes at Afrânio Peixoto Primary School. In 1920, through his maternal grandfather, he gained entrance at a Masonic lodge.