Rajka Vali facts for kids

Valerija Raukar (September 5, 1924, Ruma, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes – March 6, 2011, Zagreb, Croatia), most commonly known by her stage name Rajka Vali, was a Croatian pop music singer who enjoyed success through the 1940s and 1950s.

Raukar was born to an ethnic Croat family in the east Syrmian town of Ruma (today located in Vojvodina, Serbia). She began singing in the school choir in high school in Zagreb. Her professional singer career began accidentally in 1943. One of members of Trio Delinski was ill and there was an urgent need for replacement. Valerija Raukar was literally dragged by her friends into the studio of Krugovalna postaja Zagreb. She sang with Trio Delinski until the end of World War II. Afterwards she continued as a vocal soloist, sometimes making records with dance orchestras.

She studied architecture in Zagreb and graduated in 1955. She was married twice. Her first marriage was with known pre-World War II Croatian jazz musician Bojan Hohnjec, who influenced her early singing style. Her second husband was known Croatian jazz musician, drummer Marjan Moša Marjanović. In 1960 Rajka Vali moved with her husband to Germany, where she continued her singer career. She also had concerts in France, Spain and Germany. She ended her singing career due to her career as architect. In Germany she specialized medical technique and projecting, so she designed several clinics and hospitals.

In the 1980s she returned to Zagreb, Croatia, where she died in 2011.