Heitor Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobo, seated at the piano, which appears in the foreground, probably in a room at the Hotel Alrae, where he used to stay when he was in New York City. In photography, there is the dedication “Mindinha. To my little wife, nurse Nº 1 for life, a “Valentina” reminder of her husband Benzinho. Villa-Lobos. New York. 7/11/48 ”. Villa-Lobos was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1947 and underwent surgery at Memorial Hospital in New York on July 7, 1948, this photograph was taken a few days after the medical intervention. During the entire period in which the composer fought against the disease, Arminda Villa-Lobos, nicknamed Mindinha, took care of her husband.