Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1921. In 1934 she emigrated to Argentina, where she lived until 1960. In the same year she moved to the city of São Paulo, where she remained until the end of her life. In 1966 he began studying photography at Foto Cine Clube Bandeirante. Madalena worked as a freelancer for several magazines, such as, among others, Vogue, Status and Planeta, and from 1979 to 1981, for Globo TV. She specialized in portraits of personalities, and her production also includes another two important essays: one about transvestites/drag queens and the other on the Brazilian people from the north and northeast.
She also produced views of São Paulo and documentation about theater plays. She is considered one of the most important portrait painters of Brazil. She died in 1993 in São Paulo.