Image Courtesy: Google Doodle
Aimé Painé, (23 August 1943 – 10 September 1987) was an Argentine singer with Mapuche and Tehuelche heritage. She devoted her life to preserving and spreading the folk music of her indigenous community.
Life and Career
Aimé Painé was born in 1943 in Ingeniero Luis A Huergo, located in the province of Río Negro. Some accounts suggest that she might have been the granddaughter of a Tehuelche cacique, lonco Painé Ngürü. However, there exists no concrete evidence to substantiate this claim. During her birth registration, she was officially given the names Olga Elisa, a practice necessitated by the prevailing Argentine law at the time. This law prevented the registration of Mapuche names. Nevertheless, for her artistic pursuits, she later embraced her native name, Aimé, which translates to “reddish evening” in Mapundungun.
She passed away at the age of 44 in Asunción, Paraguay, following a brain aneurysm while recording. She was interred in her hometown, alongside her father who had passed away shortly after her. On 23 August 2022, a Google Doodle was created to celebrate Aimé Painé’s 78th Birthday.
