Vladimir Herzog, nicknamed Vlado by his family and friends, was a Brazilian journalist, university professor and playwright of Croatian Jewish origin. He also developed a taste for photography, because of his film projects.
Herzog was a member of the Brazilian Communist Party and was active in the civil resistance movement against the Brazilian military government. In October 1975, Herzog, then editor in chief of TV Cultura, was tortured to death by the political police of the military dictatorship, which later staged his suicide. It took 37 years before his death certificate was revised to say that he had in fact died as a result of torture by the army at DOI-CODI. His death had a great impact on the Brazilian society, marking the beginning of a wave of action towards the redemocratization process of the country.