Antonia García de Videgain

Antonia García F. de Guzmán was born in Cádiz, Spain, and was the median of three children, including actress Micaela García. She descended from the Medina Sidonia noble house in Cádiz, through a family branch in southern Spain that had had noble mayors. She started singing at school. Although his parents supported his talent, they did not believe that it was in keeping with the noble origins of the family, so they did everything to make him leave his ideas for a time. But she was secretly supported by her paternal uncle, who always believed in her talent. At the age of 12 he participated in a company in Zarzuela that made a name for himself in his town and sang traditional songs. Then he got in contact with influential musicians of his time, and at festivals he met new people like Ruperto Chapí and Gerónimo Giménez, his countryman or Tomás Bretón. Antonia García's powerful voice was an advantage at a time when there were no microphones, only in her later years was she able to make some jukebox recordings. However, it became famous in the mid-1860s, never to lose its fame and continues to be known as a result of its extensive presence in the Spanish and Latin American press, for more than 50 years. In 1894 in Buenos Aires she appeared as Doña Rita in La Verbena de la Paloma. As a resident diplomat who published the event tells us. Later she was declared an adoptive daughter of Buenos Aires, where a street was named in her honor. It wouldn't be the last they also put their name to a ship. His career spanning more than 50 years, from his debut in a role of Zarzuela at 12, can be followed easily because he soon married, very young, with a singer and actor from Malaga, Don Salvador Videgain Gómez, of noble origin who lived in the conquerors of Granada, with whom he had three children. He retired in 1908 from the theater industry but, in 1914, as a result of the misfortune of the burning of the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, he decided to briefly relaunch his career as a character singer, who participated in the company of his children and in cartoon festivals. Doña Anonia García, as she was until she was born, the press had recognized her fairly regardless of her ideologies since she was loved by all of her, she had suffered from diabetes since the end of the 1880s, which caused her to cancel some appearances that were released. But he always kept his commitments. In 1918 she was diagnosed with severe diabetes, this was the reason why she died in her Madrid home on June 18, 1924 and her remains are in the well-known Almudena cemetery in Madrid, on the same block as other artists as famous of his time like the Prendes, Muñoz Sampedro and others. Her artistic style has influenced many tango singers in Argentina, as well as many Spanish flamenco and melodic singers who would become famous. She was a pioneer in international artistic travel, she toured Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Uruguay. For her work as a recording artist, García entered the Paseo de las Luminarias in the city of Cuba at the beginning of the 20th century, among many other places. Her son was the actor, director and singer, artistic businessman Salvador Videgain García.