ADELAR BERTUSSI: The Living Legend of the Pampas

Nothing is more pleasurable than being able to narrate a “fragment” of a story—especially when it speaks of the greatness of a gaucho, of an accordionist-singer, of his composing, his playing, and his singing.

As I concluded this book, I felt the need to add a few notes which, by their importance, could not be left aside. They are strokes that further illuminate the contours of Adelar Bertussi’s life.

It was precisely on the final day of the first half of February 1933—just hours before the 16th—that, in the homeland of Fazenda Bertussi, was born the one who would become one of the most remarkable names in gaucho music. The property, built by the hands of the farmer and master Fioravante—Adelar’s father—was located near the region of Criúva, in São Jorge da Mulada. There, not only a child was born, but a destiny: that of one of the most beloved gauchos, a renowned accordionist, singer, and composer, whose journey would bring joy, honor, and glory—yesterday, today, and always—not only to Rio Grande do Sul, but to every corner of Brazil and far beyond its borders.

The son of Fioravante Bertussi and Juvelina Siqueira Bertussi, Adelar, from a very early age, revealed signs of his natural inclination toward music. Like his father—the old Taura Fioravante—he carried within his chest the living and ardent flame of musical art. As Juvelina was the youngest of the couple, the family also included three other sons: Wilson, Valmor, and Honyde. Among them, Honyde, the eldest, would go