Born in São Cristóvão on September 6, 1913, he was the son of Manoel Nunes da Silva and Maria da Silva. He was a simple boy from São Cristóvão, a neighborhood in the residential and commercial area of ​​Rio de Janeiro, where his mother lived in the house of his adoptive parents, a fan of Fluminense ,delighted that he was with the three-time champion carioca team from 1917-18 and 1918-19. Although he completed his primary studies and high school in schools in that neighborhood, Leônidas wanted to dedicate himself to football. At a very young age, he began to practice the sport, then an amateur in Brazil, in the nudes at Ponte dos Marinheiros. At the age of 13, he stood out as a juvenile of São Cristóvão. In 1926, he also started to defend other clubs in the neighborhood, such as Havanesa, then Barroso and Sul-Americano, in order to earn some money.
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