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Nardo Zalko (; October 1, 1941June 2, 2011) was an
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
-French journalist, author, researcher, and historian of
tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...
.


Early life

Zalko was born in October 1941 to a Lithuanian Jewish couple, Frida and Abrasha Zalko, who migrated to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. He was raised in the
porteño (feminine: ''Porteña'', in Spanish) is mainly used to refer to the residents of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is also used for other port cities, such as El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and ...
neighbourhood of San Cristobal,
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. At 19, Zalko sailed to Israel and joined Kibbutz Ein Shemer. He wrote for the Uruguayan weekly newspaper, ''
Marcha Marcha (born Margaretha Hendrika Maria Groeneveld on 2 July 1956), also known as Marga Bult, is a Dutch singer and television presenter, who has been a member of the groups Tulip, Babe and Dutch Divas and is also known for her participation in t ...
'', published in
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
, and reported on events for them such as the
Eichmann trial The Eichmann trial was the 1961 trial of major Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann who was Operation Eichmann, captured in Argentina by Israeli agents and brought to Israel to stand trial. Eichmann was a senior Nazi party member and served at t ...
held in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
in 1961. Zalko was a
paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...
in the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
of 1967 and fought on the front lines in the
Battle of Ammunition Hill Ammunition Hill (, ''Giv'at HaTahmoshet''; ) was a fortified Jordanian military post in the northern part of Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem and the western slope of Mount Scopus. It was the site of one of ...
in Jerusalem.


Career

Zalko moved to Paris with his wife and three-year-old son in 1970. In 1979, he became a journalist for
Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...
(AFP), where he eventually became the shift manager of the South America department, Desk AmSud. He retired from the AFP as the head of AmSud in 2006. In 1996, Zalko became editor-in-chief of ''Tango, Bulletin de l'Académie du Tango de France'', a publication that printed rare documents, phonograph records, sheet music, books, pictures, and photographs about tango. Through this work, Zalko interviewed many musicians, singers, and dancers, including Astor Piazzolla and Susana Rinaldi. This collection is now housed in the Centre National de la Danse (CND) in Paris. In 1998, Zalko published his first book about tango, ''Paris – Buenos Aires, Un Siècle de Tango'' (published by ), in which he documented the music, dance, lyrics, and culture of tango, and the relationship it created between the cities of Paris and
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. In the book, Zalko argues that tango had to become popular in Paris to eventually experience a revival in its birthplace of Buenos Aires. The book contains 66 illustrations, including rare ones from Zalko's personal collection among them tango poetry, sheet music, postcards, drawings, satirical cartoons and photographs, to complement the text. The book was chosen by the French Ministry of National Education as a subject for the ''
baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
'' (the general matriculation exams) in 2015. His next book, ''Le Tango, Passion du Corps et de l’Esprit'', was published by Milan Presse in 2001. According to historian Julio Nudler, Zalko was the first author to conduct a serious investigation on the development of the tango in Paris. Zalko is considered to be an expert in his field by tango researchers; his work, in particular, the book ''Paris-Buenos Aires: Un Siècle de Tango/ Paris-Buenos Aires: Un Siglo de Tango'', has been cited in various books, articles, and theses. In Paris, in conjunction with the
Pompidou Center The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
, Zalko led a series of tours of places having a connection to tango. In 2005, he was appointed Parisian ambassador of . Zalko died in Paris in 2011 and was buried in
Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...
. His
gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...
bears the inscription "Buenos Aires – Jerusalem – Paris", testifying to the major landmarks in his life and work. He was honoured by a tribute at the Argentine Embassy in Paris several months after his death.


Publications


Books

* ''Crepusculo en La Habana'' wilight in Havana Buenos Aires: Catalogos, 1993, . * ''Paris – Buenos Aires, Un Siècle de Tango'' aris – Buenos Aires, One Hundred Years of Tango; French language edition Paris: Du Félin, 1998, . Reprinted in 2004, . Reprinted in paperback in 2016, . * ''Le Tango, Passion du Corps et de l’Esprit'' ango, Passion of the Body and the Spirit Oban, France: Milan Presse, 2001, . * ''Paris – Buenos Aires, Un Siglo de Tango'' aris – Buenos Aires, One Hundred Years of Tango; Spanish language edition Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 2001, .


Group publications

* ''Bein Tze'irim: Sikhot be-Tzavta ba-Tnu'ah ha-Kibbutzit'' mong Young People: Talks in the Kibbutz Tel-Aviv: Union of Kvutzot and Kibbutzim/Am Oved, 1969. * ''Le Sang du Printemps, Jérusalem 1967'' pring of Blood, Jerusalem 1967 Les Temps Modernes, Mayenne, France, 2008, issue 651, pp. 53–64. * ''Danses Latines'' atin Dances Paris: Autrement, 2001 * ''Tango y Lunfardo''
ango and Lunfardo An , or , is a Japanese term for a three-month period of intense training for students of Zen Buddhism, lasting anywhere from 90 to 100 days. The practice during ango consists of meditation (zazen), study, and work ( samu (作務)). Ango is t ...
Buenos Aires: Dunke, 2002,


CDs

* ''Paris – Buenos Aires, collection of tangos selected by Nardo Zalko''. Paris: Du Félin, 1998, Ref. 935770–9.


Films about Zalko

* ''Paris le Tango Buenos Aires'', director: Odile Fillion, 2007 * ''Nardo Zalko. Paris – Buenos Aires. Un Siècle de Tango'', director: Claude Namer and Manu Petit, 2010


Journalism

*Correspondent in Israel for ''Marcha'',
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
 – 1961–1970 *Correspondent in Paris for ''Marcha'', Montevideo – 1970–1974 *Reporter for ''Clarin'', Buenos Aires; ''Mondo Nuevo'',
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
; ''La Vanguardia'', Medellin; ''Amitiés France-Israel'', Paris – 1974–1979 *Reporter for ''El Universal'' and ''El Nacional'', Mexico; ''El Herald'', Miami; ''El Carabobeño'', Valencia; ''El Tiempo'', Bogota – 1980–1991 *Editor-in-chief of the periodical ''Tango, Bulletin de l'Académie du Tango de France'', Paris  – 1996


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zalko, Nardo 1941 births 2011 deaths 20th-century French journalists Argentine journalists Journalists from Buenos Aires Argentine emigrants to France Argentine people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Argentine Jews History of dance Israeli military personnel