Josepha Pomares Camargo was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on 21 April 1911. Her father, an immigrant from Murcia, Spain, was 56 years old at the time of her birth. He had previously been married in Spain and had children there before moving to Brazil. Her mother was a local Afro-Brazilian woman. At some point, she got married and had a son. Throughout Josepha’s life, one of her main talents was that of a craftswoman.

As of February 2024, she has a living daughter-in-law, 4 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.