El cuatro de junio/June 4th
Photo from casadelaliteratura.gob.pe. Click HERE . ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Nicomedes Santa Cruz! (1925-1992) A Peruvian musician and scholar who traveled the world as an ambassador of black Peruvian culture, Nicomedes Santa Cruz is still celebrated in Peru for his cultural contributions. In 2006, June 4th, his birthday, was declared Día de la cultura afroperuana in honor of him. Santa Cruz was born the 9th of 10 siblings to parents Nicomedes Santa Cruz Aparicio, a playwright, and Victoria Gamarra Ramírez , the daughter of José Milagros Gamarra, a talented painter, dancer, composer. Santa Cruz became a blacksmith after his schooling and even had his own shop until 1956, when he left the trade to travel throughout Peru and Latin America composing a reciting poems. He founded a theater company (1959-1961) whose focus was reviving Afro-Peruvian folklore, and in 1959 released his first album, Kumanana ( Ingá and Décimas y Poemas Afroperuanos would follow). In 1968 Santa Cruz m...