Léona Gabriel

Léona Gabriel-Soïme (8 June 1891 - 11 August 1971) was a biguine singer from Martinique active in Paris during the interwar years.[1][2] She married the military doctor Norbert Soïme in 1933.[3][4]

Léona Gabriel-Soïme
Born(1891-06-08)June 8, 1891
Rivière-Pilote
DiedAugust 11, 1971(1971-08-11) (aged 80)
Fort-de-France
Known forsinger, songwriter
Notable workMaladie d'amour, A si Paré

She was born at Rivière-Pilote. Daughter of a white creole she grew up in Martinique, going to secretarial school in Cayenne, Guyana at age 14, going on to work as a secretary for the Lesseps company during the building of the Panama Canal. After returning for a period to Martinique she moved to Paris in 1920. In France she began singing and recording with the orchestra of clarinettist Alexandre Stellio under the stage name of Mademoiselle Estrella.

Her career as a singer continued until the 1960s. She was the aunt of Henri Salvador and supplied him with his best known tune "Maladie d'amour".[5][6][7]

Gabriel returned to Martinique in the 1940s, becoming a radio presenter, a career which lasted over 30 years. She continued recording until the 1960s. She died in Fort-de-France, aged 80.

References
  1. "Leona Gabriel".
  2. Awakening spaces: French Caribbean popular song, music, and culture – Brenda F. Berrian
  3. "Deces Des Celebrites" [Obituary]. martelkapale.unblog.fr (in French).
  4. Edwin C. Hill, Jr. Black Soundscapes White Stages: The Meaning of Francophone Sound in .. 2013. 1421410605 "But this framing begins in the Antilles, with Léona Gabriel-Soime's collection of Antillean folk songs and biguines published as Ca! C'est la Martinique! (1966). While her text appears much later than the Nardals', Gabriel-So'ime, then known by her birth name of Léona Gabriel, was a major performer and player on the Parisian biguine scenes during the interwar years ..."
  5. Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music, and Culture 0226044556 Brenda F. Berrian - 2000 "Léona Gabriel, the Mentor ..."
  6. Jocelyne Guilbault Zouk: World Music in the West Indies 1993 - Page 243 0226310426 Even though Martinique is not the subject of this research, it is important to mention some Martinican composers, such as Ernest Learde, Stellio Alexandre, Leona Gabriel, E. Delouche, and Sam Castandet, who have left a memorable repertoire of biguine music.
  7. Nottingham French Studies 2001 - Volumes 40-42 - Page 84 This moment is figured in the final pages of Zonzon Tête Carrée, when Zonzon is alone in the bus station in Fort-de-France and hears a piece of music — 'la voix créole et acidulée de Léona Gabriel' (ZTC, p.225) — from a radio in a nearby house.
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