Mirror | rorriM

She was born on February 1, 1957 in poverty. At the age of four she contracted a severe case of meningitis to which she lost her eyesight. Her family, whose only means of livelihood was begging, could not easily accept the child’s handicap but managed to provide a basic education for her. She learned to read and write and carry out simple manual tasks … and she became acquainted with the traditional songs of Portugal.

When she came of age she realised that she must leave her family for good: The day she arrived home in North Portugal she turned around and took the next train back to Lisbon.

There, with the help of other blind homeless persons, she quickly learned to master the art of survival on the street. What she didn’t earn by selling magazines and lottery tickets she earned by begging, until the day somebody suggested she use her beautiful voice as a means of livelihood.

And so there emerged on the streets of Lisbon a singer who sensitively translated her bitter fate into music. Gradually, Dona Rosa became an inseparable element of the cityscape.