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The world famous singer Brazilian ELZA SOARES tells of her very eventful life with Brazilian soccer star Garrincha.
Elza da Conceição Soares (née Gomes; 23 June 1930 – 20 January 2022), known professionally as Elza Soares (Brazilian Portuguese: ['?wz? 'swa?is]), was a Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Singer of the Millennium along with Tina Turner by BBC Radio.
Elza was deemed dangerous by the Military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985), and in 1970 her house in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, was machine-gunned by regime agents. Inside were her partner Garrincha and their children. The living room, where the young children were, was destroyed by the blasts. She and Garrincha had to flee to Italy, where they were received by Chico Buarque de Hollanda also in exile.
Elza Gomes da Conceição was born on 23 June 1930 in Padre Miguel, Rio de Janeiro. Her father Avelino Gomes was a factory worker and guitarist, and her mother Rosária Maria da Conceição was a washerwoman. She was born in the Moça Bonita, a favela in the Padre Miguel neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. During her childhood, Soares played on the streets, spun wooden tops, flew kites, and fought with boys. Despite poverty and having to carry buckets of water on her head, she had a happy childhood. When she was 12, she was forced by her father to marry Lourdes Antônio Soares, also known as Alaúrdes, and within a year later gave birth to her first child, João Carlos. Soares liked to sing, and when she needed money for medicine for her son, she participated in a vocal contest presented by Ary Barroso at Rádio Tupi. She was given money for participating and was then able to buy the medicine. When she was fifteen, she gave birth to her second child, who died. After her husband became ill with tuberculosis, she began working at the Veritas soap factory in the Engenho de Dentro neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. At twenty-one she was a widow, left alone to raise her children: four boys and one girl. She dreamed of becoming a singer.
When she was thirty-two she had a relationship with football player Garrincha. She was vilified by Brazilian society, with many accusing her of breaking up his marriage. She was shouted at in the street, received death threats, and her house was pelted with eggs and tomatoes. On 13 April 1969 her mother died in a car accident. Garrincha, Soares, and her daughter Sara were also injured in this accident. Garrincha was driving drunk on Presidente Dutra highway when a truck merged into the lane. Everyone in the car was hurt, and Dona Rosário was thrown from the vehicle and killed. Soares and Garrincha remained married for sixteen years (1968–1982). Garrincha's friends did not accept Soares as his wife, instead calling her a "witch." Soares tried to curb her husband's dependence on alcohol by visiting bars and pleading with them not to serve her husband. The couple had one child, a boy, born in 1976. He was named after his father, Manuel Francisco dos Santos, and received the nickname Garrincha Jr. In 1983 Garrincha died of cirrhosis, which devastated Soares, though they were already separated.
18 x 10 cms, softback, 152 pages.
1969
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