Maria de Lourdes Pereira dos Santos Van-Dúnem (29 April 1935 – 4 January 2006) was an Angolan singer. Usually called Lourdes Van-Dúnem, she was born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

, and rose to stardom in the 1960s with the group Ngola Ritmos. She recorded her first album, ''Monami'', with this group. She toured several times in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, and Brazil, in addition to performances in Angola. After her first album, most of her career was spent with the group Jovens do Prenda. She received several awards and honors, the notable of which being "the Most Powerful of the Angolan music." during the festival "Sun City" in South Africa during 1997 and the diploma of the National Radio of Angola, year-end program "The Best Female Voice of Angolan music" during 1997. She died in 2006 of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

and was survived by her daughter. The President of Angola,

Jose Eduardo dos Santos Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...

, attended her funeral.

Early life

Lourdes Van-Dúnem was born in

in Angola on 29 April 1935. She did her primary education at the African National League (Ligga Nacional Africana), secondary school at Colégio de Dona Castro and Silva. Her later education was at D. João II and her highest education was secondary school. She started as a singer during her school times. She has worked as an announcer in ''Voz de Angola'' where she is believed to have learnt speaking in

Kimbundu Kimbundu, a Bantu language which has sometimes been called Mbundu or North Mbundu (to distinguish it from Umbundu, sometimes called South Mbundu), is the second-most-widely-spoken Bantu language in Angola. Its speakers are concentrated in the n ...

, though she was singing in the language for years. She was a singer in clubs during her early career and one of the few recognized female singers in the country during a 60s, when the music field in Angola was dominated by male singers.

Musical career

Her musical career began in 1960 when she joined the "Ngola Ritmos" band along with Liceu Vieira Dias, José de Fontes Pereira, Amadeu Amorim and

Belita Palma Isabel Salomé Benedito de Palma, best known as Belita Palma (15 October 1932 — 1988), was an Angolan singer. With Lourdes Van-Dúnem, she is usually seen as a precursor in Angolan anti-colonial art, especially in her participation in the group ...

, who would all go on to become legends in Angolan music and supporters of the anti-colonial movement

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...

. Van-Dúnem recorded her first album Monami, which was highly acclaimed. During this period, she travelled around

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and

for her performances. She joined the Jovens do Prenda band during the 70s. During this period, she performed in different countries like South Africa,

, Brazil,

, France, Spain and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. During 80s, she was the Secretary of State for Culture and travelled widely in the north and south of Portugal. During 1997, she published the second version of "Womanhood", with the theme of New Africa / Portugal. During 1996, she recorded SOWHY disc in Paris and late on 29 August, recorded "Womanhood" CD in Portugal.

Recognition and social work

On 29 March 1991 she was awarded with the diploma of "Female Voice oldest of Angola" in Hotel Turismo. She was awarded an honorary degree "homage to the pillars of the Angolan music" on 31 June 1993. On the 420th anniversary of the foundation of Luanda city on 24 January 1996, she was conferred the "government diploma Luanda City". During 1996, she was part of "So Why" project of the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) together with other celebrities in Africa. An album with six prominent singer including her and documentary was recorded along with a book titled ''Woza Africa'', whose profit went to the war victims in Africa. The foreword was written by

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

and the campaign was for supporting the victims of civil war during 1997. On 3 September 1997, she was awarded "the Most Powerful of the Angolan music." during the festival "Sun City" in South Africa. On 31 December 1997, she was awarded the diploma of the National Radio of Angola, year-end program "The Best Female Voice in Angolan music". She died of typhoid on 4 January 2006 and was survived by her daughter. The President of Angola,

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...

, attended her funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:VanDunem, Lourdes 1935 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Angolan women singers Deaths from typhoid fever Infectious disease deaths in Angola Musicians from Luanda Van Dunem family