The Cultural Center of Beringel, in the municipality of Beja, will be called Centro Cultural Linda de Suza, in honor of the singer who died in 2022, it was announced today.
The naming of the Cultural Center of Beringel after Linda de Suza, who died on December 28, 2022, aims to honor the singer who made the town known “to the world,” explained the president of the Parish Council, Vítor Besugo, to Lusa news agency.
According to the elected official, the proposal, approved this week “unanimously”, also aims to “immortalize Linda de Suza, for all that she symbolized for the emigrant community”.
Besides naming the Cultural Center of Beringel after Linda de Suza, the Parish Council of Beringel will also create “a permanent exhibition about the singer born in Beringel, so that everyone who visits the parish can learn about her story,” added Vítor Besugo.
Teolinda Joaquina de Sousa Lança, known as Linda de Suza, was born in Beringel, in the municipality of Beja, on February 22, 1948, and emigrated to France in 1970.
Linda de Suza made her debut as a singer at the restaurant Chez Loisette, in Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, and in the beginning of her career she became known for the song “Um Português (Mala de Cartão)”, in which she sang the laments of homesickness of those who left the country.
She eventually became the singer for the Portuguese immigrant community, singing about their difficulties and homesickness in songs like “J’ai deux pays pour un seul coeur” or “La Symphonie du Portugal”.
His repertoire included themes from the popular songbook, such as “Lírio Roxo” and “Malhão, Malhão”, and he recorded “Coimbra/Avril au Portugal”.
His story was adapted for television in a miniseries called “Cardboard Suitcase” (1988).
Linda de Suza died on December 28, 2022, at the age of 74, in a hospital in Gisors, France, from “respiratory failure” and diagnosed with covid-19, and was buried in Paris.