Martina Portocarrero (29 September 1949 – 22 April 2022) was a Peruvian folk singer, cultural researcher, and politician. She was an interpreter of huaynos and mulizas, as well as a researcher of Andean culture. Portocarrero was posthumously honored by the Peruvian government as Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura (Meritorious Personality of Culture). During her political career, she ran unsuccessfully for various positions as a member of FREPAP, Broad Front, and Free Peru.
Martina Portocarrero | |
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 Portocarrero in 1987 | |
| Born | Leonila Martina Portocarrero Ramos September 29, 1949 Nazca, Peru |
| Died | April 22, 2022 (aged 72) Lausanne, Switzerland |
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Biography
editLeonila Martina Portocarrero Ramos was born in Nazca, Peru, on 29 September 1949.[1]
In 1970, she entered the Universidad Nacional de Música in Lima. She studied at the Escuela de Nacional de Arte Dramático, as well as at the National University of San Marcos, but it was in Switzerland where she graduated from university as an educator.
In the 1908s, she began her career as a soloist, performing huaynos throughout Peru. Around 1984, she traveled to Europe, introducing Latin American music in European festivals. In 1986, she settled in Switzerland and continued spreading the folklore and traditional art of Peru.[citation needed] Her interpretation of the Ayacucho huayno song "Flor de Retama", composed by Ricardo Dolorier, which refers to the Huanta student rebellion of 1969, was well known.[2]
Portocarrero was twice a pre-candidate for the presidency of the Republic, in 2001 for FREPAP, withdrawing before the election, and in 2016, for Broad Front,[3] being defeated in the internal elections by the anthropologist Verónika Mendoza. In 2006, Portocarrero was a candidate for mayor of Lima for the Union for Peru party, obtaining only 4.63% of the votes. In 2016 and 2020, Portocarrero ran for Congress for the Broad Front party. In 2021, she ran with the political party Free Peru but was excluded by the National Jury of Elections. Portocarrero formed her own political group, the Movimiento Político Cultural Mundo Verde. She was touted as a possible Ministro de Cultura del Perú (Minister of Culture) during the beginning of the governments of Ollanta Humala[4] and Pedro Castillo.[5]
Martina Portocarrero died on 22 April 2022, in Lausanne, Switzerland,[6] as a result of lung cancer.[7] In May 2022, the Peruvian government posthumously awarded her the recognition of Meritorious Personality of Culture.[8]
Discography
edit- 1982: Canto a la Vida. Stereo LP.001, Discos Retama
- 1987: Martina en vivo - Teatro Municipal. – Lima, CD Vol. 1
- 1993: Maíz. Discos Raymi, CD Vol. 2
- 2001: El Canto de las Palomas. CD Vol. 3, Retama producciones
- 2012: Carita de Manzana. Martina Portocarrero & Retama Producciones
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Distinguen póstumamente como Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura a Martina Portocarrero". andina.pe (in Spanish). 4 May 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Murió Martina Portocarrero, cantante de "Flor de Retama", tras batallar contra el cáncer de pulmón". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Presidenciales 2016: siete precandidatos se inscriben en el Frente Amplio". andina.pe (in Spanish). 21 August 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Bases de Gana Perú postulan a Martina Portocarrero como Ministra de Cultura". RPP (in Spanish). 15 July 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Martina Portocarrero y su desazón por no ser la ministra de Cultura: "Creo que hice méritos"" (video). El Bocón (in Spanish). 7 October 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Martina Portocarrero, 40 años". Péruviens en Suisse (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Martina Portocarrero, intérprete de "Flor de retama", muere tras luchar contra el cáncer de pulmón". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). 24 April 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ "Martina Portocarrero: cantante folclórica es declarada como "Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura"". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). 4 May 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2023.