Violeta Parra

Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (October 4, 1917 – February 5, 1967) was a groundbreaking Chilean composer, folklorist, ethnomusicologist, and visual artist. She is widely recognized as the pioneer of Nueva Canción Chilena (Chilean New Song), a movement that revitalized and reinvented Chilean folk music, extending its influence far beyond Chile's borders. Her life and work were the subject of the 2011 biopic Violeta Went to Heaven, directed by Andrés Wood.

Born in the small town of San Fabián de Alico, near San Carlos in southern Chile, Violeta Parra came from a musically inclined family. Her father was a music teacher, and her mother sang and played guitar. Among her siblings were the acclaimed poet Nicanor Parra and fellow folklorist Roberto Parra. Her children, Ángel Parra and Isabel Parra, also became significant figures in the Nueva Canción movement, continuing the family's artistic legacy.