Helvécio Martins (27 July 1930 – 14 May 2006) was the first Latter-day Saint of African descent to be called as a general authority. Born to descendants of African slaves in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Elder Martins joined the LDS Church in 1972, despite his knowledge that the LDS Church did not then allow members of African descent to hold the priesthood or to receive temple ordinances. In April 1990, President Ezra Taft Benson called Elder Martins as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. Martins thus became the first black general authority in LDS Church history.