Paula Nenette Pepin facts for kids

Antonietta Paule Pepin Fitzpatrick (born April 9, 1908 – died November 14, 1990) was a talented French musician. She was a composer, a pianist, and a lyricist, which means she wrote songs and the words for them. Her family and friends knew her as Nenette.

Early Life and Moving to Argentina

Nenette was born on April 9, 1908, on an island called Saint Pierre et Miquelon. This island is a French territory located near the coast of Canada. Her father, Emmanuel Victor Pepin, was French, and her mother, Henriette Fitzpatrick, was Canadian with Irish family.

When Nenette was a child, during the First World War, her family moved to France. In 1926, her older sister, Jeanne Henriette, finished school. Jeanne then traveled with a dance company to Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, she met her first husband.

Two years later, after Nenette finished her own schooling, Jeanne invited her and their father to come to Argentina. Nenette and her father settled in Villa Ballester, a town near Buenos Aires, in 1928.

Music Studies and Career

In Argentina, Nenette went to the National Music Conservatory. This is a special school for music. She studied piano there with famous teachers like Juan José Castro, Pascual de Rogatis, and Isabel Aretz.

Nenette traveled all over Argentina, giving concerts. She played classical music on the piano for many people.

Meeting Atahualpa Yupanqui

In 1942, after one of her concerts in Tucumán, the people who organized the show took her to hear some folk music. This was music from northern Argentina, played by a famous Argentine singer named Atahualpa Yupanqui.

Nenette and Atahualpa Yupanqui became good friends. Four years later, in 1946, they started living together. They had a son that same year, and they named him Roberto, but everyone called him "Koya" Chavero.

Working as a Composer

After having her son, Nenette stopped performing as a pianist. Instead, she started working closely with her husband, Atahualpa Yupanqui. She helped him create many songs.

During a time when Yupanqui faced difficulties, Nenette took care of their son. She also kept composing songs with her husband. She wrote some of Yupanqui's most famous works.

At that time, it was common for women to not get full credit for their work, especially in music. Because of this, Nenette used a male pseudonym, which is a made-up name. She published her songs under the name Pablo del Cerro. She chose "Pablo" because her middle name was Paule. "Del Cerro" came from one of her favorite places, Cerro Colorado, in the Córdoba province.

Nenette also composed many beautiful piano melodies on her own. Some of these include Luna tucumana, El alazán, Indiecito dormido, Chacarera de las piedras, and Zamba del otoño.

Later Life and Legacy

In 1961, when Nenette was 53 years old, she went back to France for a vacation with her son Robert, who was 15 at the time.

Nenette passed away in Buenos Aires on November 14, 1990, at the age of 82. She died from a cardiac arrest, which is a problem with the heart. She had asked for her ashes to be spread in the sea near her home island in the North Atlantic.

Even though she became one of the most important composers in Argentina, Nenette always kept her French nationality.

See also

In Spanish: Nenette Pepin Fitzpatrick para niños