1. Biography
    Early life  Musical career 

2. Personal life

3. Honours

4. Death

5. Legacy

6. Named after

7. Discography

8. References

9. External links

Biography

Early life

"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, Justino da Cruz Évora who was a part-time musician,^[2] died, and at the age of ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother Dona Joana could not raise all six children. At the age of 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.^[3]

She grew up at the famous house in Mindelo where other singers used from the 1940s to the 1970s, at 35 Rua de Moeda.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} Other Cape Verdean singers came to the place including Djô d'Eloy, Bana, Eddy Moreno, Luis Morais and Manuel de Novas (also as Manuel d'Novas), there she received her musical education.

Musical career

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.^[4]

She recorded the track "Ausência", composed by Bosnian-born musician Goran Bregovic, which was released in a soundtrack to the film Underground (1995) by Emir Kusturica and is the second track.

Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first commercial album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus, recorded in France. Prior to the release of the La Diva Aux Pieds Nus album, Cesária recorded her first LP titled "Cesária" in 1987. This Album was later released on CD in 1995 as Audiophile Legends.^[3] Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.^[5] It included one of her most celebrated songs, "Sodade".

In 1994, Bau joined her touring band and two years later, he became her musical director up to September 1999.

Her 1995 album Cesária brought her broader international success and the first Grammy Award nomination.^[3] In 1997, she won KORA All African Music Awards in three categories: "Best Artist of West Africa", "Best Album" and "Merit of the Jury".^[6] In 2003, her album Voz d'Amor was awarded a Grammy in the World music category.^[3]

In 2006 in Italy Cesária met Alberto Zeppieri (songwriter, journalist and record producer), who would dedicate to her "Capo Verde, terra d'amore" (www.capoverde-italia.it), taking care of all creative adaptations in Italian. Cesária agreed to duet with Gianni Morandi [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ip3iSyNtaI], Gigi D'Alessio [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO1e9-VJqds] and Ron [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JjPQh4qYBU]. The project, now in its fifth volume, gives visibility and raises funds for the UN World Food Programme, for which Cesária was the Ambassador from 2003.^[7]

Later in 2006, she released her next album Rogamar it was a success and charted six European countries including France, Poland and the Netherlands. On her tour in Australia in 2008, she suffered a stroke. In 2009, she released her final album Nha Sentimento which was recorded in Mindelo and Paris by José da Silva, the album reached number 6 in Poland and number 21 in France.

In 2009, she was made a knightess of the French Legion of Honour by the French French Minister of Culture and Communications Christine Albanel, the first Cape Verdean who became one.

She was awarded for the last time at the 2010 Kora All African Music Awards for the "Merit of the Jury" for the second time.

Personal life

Cesária Évora dated Eduardo de Jon Xalino when she lived at Rua de Moeda, she was also a singer, relative of the great Bana.

Her cousin was another singer Hermínia da Cruz Fortes, she was an aunt of António da Rocha Évora and Xavier da Cruz.

Honours

• Grand-Cross of the Order of Prince Henry, Portugal (31 May 1999)^[8]

Death

In 2010, Évora performed a series of concerts, the last of which was in Lisbon on 8 May. Two days later, after a heart attack, she underwent surgery at a local hospital in Paris. On the morning of 11 May 2010 she was taken off artificial pulmonary ventilation, and on 16 May she was discharged from the intensive-care unit and transported to a clinic for further treatment. In late September 2011, Évora's agent announced that she was ending her career due to poor health.^[9]

On 17 December 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde, from respiratory failure and hypertension.^[10] A Spanish newspaper reported that 36 hours before her death she was still receiving people – and smoking – in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open.^[11]

Legacy

• In 2003, she appeared on a Cape Verdean stamp^[12]

• On 3 September 2013 her name was boosted publicly by the Belgian musician Stromae, when he released his famous album Racine carrée{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} that includes "Ave Cesaria", a track that honours Cesária Évora, one of Stromae's favourite artists.
• On 22 December 2014 the Banco de Cabo Verde introduced a new series of banknotes that honor Cape Verdean figures in the fields of literature, music, and politics. Her face was featured in the new 2000 Escudos banknote.
• The awarded feature documentary Tchindas is a tribute to her after her death, and contains several of her songs.
• In December 2016, singer Fantcha launched a new album entitled Nôs Caminhada, in hommage to her mentor Cesária Évora, including a number of traditional songs (mornas and coladeiras) that had been interpreted by Cesária Évora. It also features a very special song, "Nôs Caminhada", remember the moments spent with the beloved one, the singer considers Évora as her second mom.

Named after

• On 8 March 2012 Cape Verde's third busiest airport was named after her. At its terminal entrance, a statue of herself was erected in the same year and a mural was put in inside the terminal building.
• On 18 June 2014 a small new street in the 19th Arrondissement of Paris was named, it is located near Boulevard Macdonald in the Pont-de-Flandre quarter. Several residential streets across a part of Europe have been named for her. Other streets in other parts of Europe, especially France has recently named a few streets after the singer.
• On 19 September 2014 the Seine-Saint-Denis department named a new collegiate in Montreuil after her and is located on Rue des Jardins Dufour.
• In 2014 or 2015, a street in the west of the Capeverdean capital of Praia is named for her in Palmarejo Grande near Jean Piaget University, it intersects Avenida Eugenio Paula de Tavares.
• Two species of fauna are named after her, a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae named Chilades evorae which is found on the island of Santo Antão and a species of sea slug called Aegires evorae which exists in the northeast of the island of Sal in the area of Calhetinha.

Discography

• La Diva aux Pieds Nus (1988)
• Distino di Belita (1990)
• Mar Azul (1991)
• Miss Perfumado (1992)
• Cesária (1995)
• Cabo Verde (1997)
• Café Atlantico (1999)
• São Vicente di Longe (2001)
• Voz d'Amor (2003)
• Rogamar (2006)
• Nha Sentimento (2009)

References

External links

• Official website
• Life and work of Cesária Évora, in Portuguese
• Blog by the fans of Cesária Évora, the first page entirely in Portuguese

• Kannankudi block
• Kannan (music director)
• Kannan's theorem
• Kannanur
• Kannapanunni
• Kannapolis, N.C. (1941 film)
• Kannaram Pothi Pothi
• Kannas
• Kannas-e Sofla
• Kannas-e Zarghami
• Kannathal
• Kanna Thorakkanum Saami
• Kannauji
• Kannauj Medical College
• Kannavath Sankaran Nambiar
• Kannayariamudayar Temple, Thirukkarayil
• Kannayariamudayar Temple, Thirukkuvalai
• Kannayiranathar-Kailasanayaki Temple
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• Kann denn Liebe Sünde Sein
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• Kanneljärvi (disambiguation)
• Kannemeyeria lophorhinus
• Kannemeyeria simocephala