Helena Meirelles

Helena Meirelles (August 13, 1924 – September 28, 2005) was a Brazilian guitar player, singer, and composer recognized around the world for her talent as a player of the viola caipira. She is one of the most important composers of the folk musical style of the region of Mato Grosso do Sul. Considered to be the Brazilian version of Robert Johnson, she was elected, in 1994 by Guitar Player magazine as one of the top 100 guitar players in the world. Biography Born in Bataguassu, at the time the district of Nova Andradina, Helena Pereira Meirelles grew up surrounded by entourages and guitar players. She was fascinated by violas caipiras, and her family would not allow her to learn how to play them. She ended up teaching herself in secret, and she faced strong prejudice because the viola was not appropriate for a woman to play. Little by little she was known among the cowboys of the region. She married at 17 years old at the imposition of her parents, abandoning her husband shortly after to join a Paraguayan who played violin and guitar. They also separated, and she resolved to play viola at bars and parties. In order to do so, she left her children from the two marriages with adoptive