Maria Severa

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Maria Severa Onofriana, known simply as A Severa, was a Portuguese fado singer and guitarist. She was born in 1820 in the Madragoa district of Lisbon and died in 1846, only twenty-six years old. Her father was of Roma descent, and her mother, who came from Ovar, ran a tavern. Severa is said to have sung fado in those taverns, accompanying herself on the Portuguese guitar. She is described as a tall, charming courtesan. One of her lovers was the Count of Vimioso. She died of tuberculosis in Lisbon and was buried in a common grave.

Music and breakthrough

Fado, which roughly means fate, is sometimes called the Portuguese blues. It is a song full of longing and wistfulness, accompanied by guitars. Severa is regarded as the first fado singer to become famous, and after her death she acquired an almost mythical status. Her fame grew partly thanks to the novel A Severa by Júlio Dantas, which became a play in 1901. In 1931 the director Leitão de Barros made the first Portuguese sound film of it, also called A Severa. In 2011 a romantic musical about her premiered in Canada.

Influence

Maria Severa shows how fado arose in the poorest neighbourhoods of Lisbon. Singers such as Amália Rodrigues later built on this tradition.

Listening

Mentioned in other articles

• Fado GenreMaria Severa became the first famous fadista around 1840.

See also

• Fado