Elvira Olivieri Cozzolino (6 September 1920 â€" 8 May 2003), better
known by her stage name Elvira Pagã, was a Brazilian vedette and
actress, singer, writer and painter. She was the first Rio Carnival
Queen, the first woman to wear a bikini in public, and one of the
first women to have cosmetic surgery in Brazil. Talented and
controversial, she broke the status quo and faced the reigning
"machismo" with fearless audacity during the Brazilian military
dictatorship and the revolutionary 1960s, where she lived with
determination and courage. Pagã retired from public life, wrote and
painted in her later years, dying a recluse.Elvira Olivieri Cozzolino
was born on 6 September 1920 in Itararé, São Paulo, Brazil. She
moved as a child with her family to Rio de Janeiro and attended the
convent school Immaculate Conception. As a student, she organized
events with her sister Rosina Pagã, and members of Bando da Lua, to
establish connections with the artistic community in Rio.In 1935,
Elvira debuted with her sister on the show Cine Ipanema as the Pagã
Sisters, with the master of ceremonies Heitor Beltrão. They also sang
as a duo on Rádio Mayrink Veiga, recording thirteen albums with
composers such as Lamartine Babo, Ary Barroso, Braguinha, and Assis
Valente. That same year, the sisters made their film debut in the
movie Alô Alô Carnaval, with Francisco Alves, Dircinha Batista and
Carmen Miranda. The following year, they appeared in the movie
Cidade-Mulher, directed by Humberto Mauro, singing the title song
"Noel Rosa" with Orlando Silva. The sisters then went on the Rio
Carnival circuit with the song "Não te dou a chupeta", and toured for
four months through Argentina, Chile and Peru. They made three more
films together, O Bobo do Rei (1936), Tres anclados en ParÃs (1938)
and Favela (1939), before splitting up due to Elvira's 1940 marriage
to Theodoro Eduardo Duvivier Filho, nullified in 1951.Elvira began a
solo recording career with Continental Records of São Paulo, in 1944.
She released a 78'', accompanied by Conjunto Tocantins, interpreting
the sambas "Arrastando o pé" by Peterpan and Afonso Teixeira [pt] and
"Samburá" by Valfrido Silva [pt] and Gadé [pt]. In 1945, she
recorded a four-song album, unusual for the time, with the songs "E o
mundo se distrai" and "Meu amor és tu" by Gadé, Almanir Grego and
Amado Régis [pt]; and the songs "Cabelo azul" and "Briga de peru" by
Roberto Martins [pt] and Herivelto Martins. That same year, she
released a second album with two sambas, "Na feira do cais dourado" by
Nelson Teixeira and Nelson Trigueiro, and "Um ranchinho na lua" by
Babi de Oliveira.
known by her stage name Elvira Pagã, was a Brazilian vedette and
actress, singer, writer and painter. She was the first Rio Carnival
Queen, the first woman to wear a bikini in public, and one of the
first women to have cosmetic surgery in Brazil. Talented and
controversial, she broke the status quo and faced the reigning
"machismo" with fearless audacity during the Brazilian military
dictatorship and the revolutionary 1960s, where she lived with
determination and courage. Pagã retired from public life, wrote and
painted in her later years, dying a recluse.Elvira Olivieri Cozzolino
was born on 6 September 1920 in Itararé, São Paulo, Brazil. She
moved as a child with her family to Rio de Janeiro and attended the
convent school Immaculate Conception. As a student, she organized
events with her sister Rosina Pagã, and members of Bando da Lua, to
establish connections with the artistic community in Rio.In 1935,
Elvira debuted with her sister on the show Cine Ipanema as the Pagã
Sisters, with the master of ceremonies Heitor Beltrão. They also sang
as a duo on Rádio Mayrink Veiga, recording thirteen albums with
composers such as Lamartine Babo, Ary Barroso, Braguinha, and Assis
Valente. That same year, the sisters made their film debut in the
movie Alô Alô Carnaval, with Francisco Alves, Dircinha Batista and
Carmen Miranda. The following year, they appeared in the movie
Cidade-Mulher, directed by Humberto Mauro, singing the title song
"Noel Rosa" with Orlando Silva. The sisters then went on the Rio
Carnival circuit with the song "Não te dou a chupeta", and toured for
four months through Argentina, Chile and Peru. They made three more
films together, O Bobo do Rei (1936), Tres anclados en ParÃs (1938)
and Favela (1939), before splitting up due to Elvira's 1940 marriage
to Theodoro Eduardo Duvivier Filho, nullified in 1951.Elvira began a
solo recording career with Continental Records of São Paulo, in 1944.
She released a 78'', accompanied by Conjunto Tocantins, interpreting
the sambas "Arrastando o pé" by Peterpan and Afonso Teixeira [pt] and
"Samburá" by Valfrido Silva [pt] and Gadé [pt]. In 1945, she
recorded a four-song album, unusual for the time, with the songs "E o
mundo se distrai" and "Meu amor és tu" by Gadé, Almanir Grego and
Amado Régis [pt]; and the songs "Cabelo azul" and "Briga de peru" by
Roberto Martins [pt] and Herivelto Martins. That same year, she
released a second album with two sambas, "Na feira do cais dourado" by
Nelson Teixeira and Nelson Trigueiro, and "Um ranchinho na lua" by
Babi de Oliveira.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.