Miguel Rafael Campanioni Gómez

Legendary trovador and composer from Sancti-Spiritus, author of the anthological song Mujer Perjura.

Born in Sancti-Spiritus. In 1893 he lost his sense of sight when he was eleven years old. His father was a captain in the Liberation Army during the War of Independence. As a young man he worked in various trades, such as telegraph operator in his hometown, baker, and medicine merchant.

At twelve years old his passion for music led him to compose fashionable melodies with a philharmonic society and, later, he began to receive guitar lessons, an instrument that he came to master so well that he became a teacher. In 1911 he traveled to New York for an evaluation of his eyes and the diagnosis was negative: he would never recover his vision.

Later, in a short time he was already performing through his studies the following instruments: Piano, Flute, Violin and Double Bass.

He worked as a pianist in cinema and theater halls and with an orchestra at dances and parties in his native area. He excelled in directing the Sancti-Spiritus Easter choirs, for which he composed musical works and key pieces.

Miguel Campanioni founded the trio that bore his name, where he accompanied with his guitar the voices of Segismundo Acosta and Luis Farías, constituting the oldest of the Yayabera choral groups, which emerged in 1910. The Society of Authors of Cuba honored him with a medal for fifty years of creative activity.

He also formed an orchestra and created Easter choirs. With so much music in his imagination, inspiration could not be lacking in his intrepid life, and he created the following works: "La lira rota", "Alelí", "Amelia", "La fe", "Porque latió mi corazón", and his masterpiece was "Mujer Perjura".

Miguel Campanioni received countless recognitions, and it was well deserved, since being visually impaired was not an obstacle to carrying out admirable cultural work. On February 21, 1965, an exemplary creator, Miguel Campanioni, died in Havana.