Fotos

An image of the great Cesaria Evora, on stage in Villa Arconati, few miles from Milan.
She sang the 20 july.

On 23 september Évora's agent announced that she was ending her career due to poor health.

On 17 December 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde.

Local newspapers reported that 48 hours before her death she was still receiving people - and smoking - in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.


"Cise" (as she was known to friends) was born on 27 August 1941 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde.
When she was seven years old her father (who was a part-time musician) died, and at the age of ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother could not raise all six children.
At the age of 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.

In the 1960s, she started singing on Portuguese cruise ships stopping at Mindelo as well as on the local radio.
It was only in 1985 when at the invitation of Cape Verdean singer Bana she went to perform in Portugal.
In Lisbon she was discovered by the producer José da Silva and invited to record in Paris.

Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus, recorded in France.
Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide, and included one of her most celebrated songs, "Sodade".