Manke Nelis (born Cornelis Pieters; 1919-1993) was a Dutch singer in the

levenslied Levenslied (Dutch, literally "life song" or "song about life") is a sentimental Dutch-language subgenre of popular music. ''Levenslied'' lyrics can be sweet or bitter, light and sentimental, but also reflective and dark, about subjects such as love, ...

genre.

Career

Manke Nelis was born in Groenlo on 16 December 1919 and began his musical career as a bass player, often accompanying his brother-in-law, accordionist

Johnny Meijer Johnny Meijer (born 'Jan Cornelis Meijer' 1 October 1912 in Amsterdam; died 8 January 1992 in Amsterdam) was an accordionist who played classical, folk, and swing. For a time he was known as a jazz accordionist and his 75th birthday was celebr ...

. In the 1950s he performed under the stage name Carlo Pietro and started singing the Amsterdam ''levenslied''. A motorcycle accident in France and a subsequent medical error cost him a leg; he reportedly spent the more than 100,000 guilders he received as compensation within a year. His biggest hit was "Kleine Jodeljongen" in 1987. In 1987 he narrowly survived a bus crash on an American tour with Dutch artists, near

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. He died of cancer 8 October 1993, at age 73.

Legacy

A statue of Manke Nelis was placed on the Johnny Jordaan Square off the

Elandsgracht The Elandsgracht is a street and former canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It runs between the Prinsengracht and the Singelgracht in the Jordaan neighborhood of the Amsterdam-Centrum district. Bridge 169 over the Singelgracht and Bridge 107 ove ...

, in the company of statues for

Johnny Jordaan Johnny Jordaan was the pseudonym for Johannes Hendricus van Musscher (7 February 1924 – 8 January 1989), a Dutch singer of popular music, in particular the genre known as ''levenslied'', a Dutch variety of the French ''chanson''. He was well kn ...

Tante Leen Tante is the French, Dutch (Nederland), German, Danish, and Yiddish word for aunt (female sibling of a parent) ''Tante'' may also refer to: * A novel by Anne Douglas Sedgwick, upon which the film '' The Impossible Woman'' is based * Tante Leen ( ...

, and Johnny Meijer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelis, Manke 1919 births 1993 deaths Dutch levenslied singers Musicians from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch male singers