Cartola

Angenour de Oliveira, aka Cartola, was a Brazilian performer who did much to grow the popularity of samba music in the 1930s. He made several recordings but in the 1940s abandoned his career only to return to gain great commercial success in the '60s and '70s.

Born into poverty, he became an sought after stonemason before turning to music with his guitar and started to write songs often recorded by his young daughter Creusa. His later disappearance led to reports that he had died but he re-emerged in the '60s to open a venue called Zicartola where samba became renowned.

Although his songs were popular, his first album wasn't released until 1974. He made three other albums but was diagnosed with cancer, succumbing to the disease at the age of 72 in 1980. His story was related in a 2007 documentary film titled 'Cartola - Music Para Os Olhos' directed by Lirio Ferreira and Hilton Lacerda.