Vange Leonel

Maria Evangelina "Vange" Leonel Gandolfo (May 4, 1963 – July 14, 2014) was a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, journalist, chronicler, novelist, playwright, beer sommelier, and feminist and LGBT activist. Known for her distinctive soulful, bluesy vocals heavily inspired by Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin, she was famous for her work with post-punk band Nau, active from 1985 to 1989, before beginning a solo career in 1991.

Biography

Vange Leonel was born in São Paulo in 1963; cousin of former Titãs member Nando Reis,^[1] her first musical ventures were with the post-punk band Nau (Portuguese for "carrack"), which was founded in 1985. Nau released an eponymous album by CBS in 1987, and also took part in the compilation Não São Paulo, Vol. 2, released by Baratos Afins; however, it would disband in 1989, after plans for a second studio album fell through, and Vange followed with a solo career.

Her first solo album, Vange, was released in 1991 by Sony Music Entertainment, and spawned her most well-known song, "Noite Preta", which was used as the opening theme of the popular Brazilian telenovela Vamp.^[2] Another song off the album, "Esse Mundo", would be used as the opening theme for another telenovela, Perigosas Peruas. Her second solo release, the EP Vermelho, came out in 1996 by the independent label Medusa Records, founded by Vange and her domestic partner Cilmara Bedaque in the same year.^[3] Bedaque also co-authored numerous of Vange's songs since the times of Nau. Vermelho was not as well-received as her previous album though, and Vange abandoned the musical career to devote herself to literature.

Vange came out as a lesbian in 1995,^[4] and since then began to milit toward the gay cause and women's rights. In 1999 she published her first book, Lésbicas, that was followed by Grrrls: Garotas Iradas in 2001; both were compilations of articles she wrote for now-defunct LGBT magazine Sui Generis from 1997 to 2000. She also wrote for the Revista da Folha, CartaCapital and Mix Brasil, and alongside Cilmara Bedaque she also had a beer-related blog named "Lupulinas".^[5]

In 2000 she wrote her first theatre play, As Sereias da Rive Gauche, that was performed in the same year under Regina Galdino's direction^[6] and published as a book in 2002.^[7] Her first and only novel, Balada para as Meninas Perdidas, was released in 2003.

Her fifth and ultimately last literary work was the play Joana Evangelista, which came out in 2006; a modern-day reimagining of Joan of Arc's life, it deals with the theme of abortion.^[8]

In mid-June 2014, Vange was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and was admitted to the Santa Isabel Hospital in São Paulo for treatment. The cancer eventually metastasized to her gastric mucosa, evolving to a terminal stage; thus, whatever treatment proved to be unsuccessful, and Vange would die on July 14, 2014, aged 51.^[9] She was cremated and her ashes were buried one day later at the Horto da Paz Cemetery, in Itapecerica da Serra.^[10] Her funeral was attended by people such as Marisa Orth, Jean Wyllys, Ney Latorraca and Mauro Sanches, one of her former bandmates from Nau.

In a 2012 interview, Vange stated that she was working on a translation to Portuguese of Djuna Barnes' 1928 novel Ladies Almanack.^[11] Since then, however, no further announcements regarding the translation were given, and it is unknown if she got to finish the translation prior to her death.

Personal life

Leonel met her future domestic partner Cilmara Bedaque in 1986. They lived together from 1995 until Vange's death in 2014.

Discography

With Nau

Solo

As a session member

Mercenárias

• 1986: Cadê as Armas? (additional vocals in "Santa Igreja")

Bibliography

• Lésbicas (1999)
• Grrrls: Garotas Iradas (2001)
• As Sereias da Rive Gauche (2002)
• Balada para as Meninas Perdidas (2003)
• Joana Evangelista (2006)

References

External links

• Official website
• Vange Leonel at the Internet Movie Database
• Vange Leonel on Facebook
• Vange Leonel on Twitter