Ivan Pinheiro Themudo Lessa (born May 9, 1935) is a Brazilian journalist[1] and writer[2] of American descent. Born in São Paulo, he is the son of the journalist and writer Elsie Lessa and the writer Orígenes Lessa and the father of the British writer Juliana Foster.
Lessa edited and wrote for the newspaper O Pasquim,[1] in which he authored the sections "Gip-Gip-Nheco-Nheco", "Fotonovelas" (Photo-soap-operas) and "Os Diários de Londres" (The London Journals), written in 'partnership' with his heteronym "Edélsio Tavares".
He has published three books: Garotos da Fuzarca (Rogue Lads, short stories, 1986), Ivan Vê o Mundo (Ivan Sees the World, 1999) and O Luar e a Rainha (The Moonlight and the Queen, 2005). He also translated Truman Capote's In Cold Blood to Portuguese.
Lessa lives in London, where he writes and broadcasts in the Brazilian BBC news website.