Mercedes Sosa

Haydée Mercedes Sosa, known affectionately as La Negra, was born on July 9, 1835, in Tucumán into a modest working-class family of indigenous Diaguita and French ancestry. In 1963, alongside Armando Tejada Gómez, she launched the Movimiento del Nuevo Cancionero in Mendoza, renewing Latin American folk music with social justice.

Sosa became an international musical symbol of resistance against military dictatorships across South America. Banned and harassed by the Argentine military junta, she was arrested on stage in La Plata in 1979 and forced into exile in Paris and Madrid. Returning in 1982 to perform thirteen historic concerts at the Teatro Ópera in Buenos Aires, her recordings of 'Gracias a la vida' and 'Todo cambia' remain immortal anthems of human hope and dignity.