Julio María Sosa Venturini (February 2, 1926 – November 26, 1964), usually referred to simply as Julio Sosa or El Varón del Tango, was a Uruguayan/Argentinian

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

singer.

Biography

Sosa was born in Las Piedras, a

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones ( es, Departamento de Canelones; ) is one of the 19 uruguayan departments. With an area of and 518,154 inhabitants, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Geography and climate Neighbour ...

suburb of Montevideo,

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. He moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, in 1949, where he became famous with the Orquesta Francini-Pontier the

Orquesta típica Orquesta típica, or simply a típica, is a Latin American term for a band which plays popular music. The details vary from country to country. The term tends to be used for groups of medium size (about 8 to 12 musicians) in some well-defined in ...

formed by the violinist

Enrique Mario Francini Enrique Mario Francini (14 January 1916 in San Fernando – 27 August 1978 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine tango orchestra director, composer and violinist who played in various tango ensembles including the Orquesta Francini-Pontier and ...

and the bandoneonist

Armando Pontier Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

. Working with numerous other orchestras, he was reunited with Pontier in 1955, with whom he recorded several best-selling albums on the RCA Victor and Columbia labels and became one of the most important tango singers in the genre's history.TodoTango Biography:Julio Sosa
/ref> He married Nora Ulfed in 1958 and had a daughter. His marriage ended in separation, however, and he settled into a relationship with Susana Merighi. His towering masculinity and reserved strength earned him the nickname ''El Varón del Tango'' ("The Man's Man of Tango"). Sosa also published a book of poetry, ''Dos horas antes del alba'' ("Two Hours Before the Dawn"), in 1960. Following his switch to Columbia Records in 1961, the Pontier orchestra incorporated a new

bandoneon The bandoneon (or bandonion, es, bandoneón) is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, the bandoneon is held be ...

ist,

Leopoldo Federico Leopoldo Federico (12 January 1927 – 28 December 2014) was an Argentine bandoneon player, arranger, director and composer. Life Born in the district of Once in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Federico was one of the most outstanding band ...

, and the association helped make the group the most successful in its genre, at the time. Sosa's fame acquainted him with

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s as well. He had numerous accidents during the early 1960s, mostly as a result of speeding. He was behind the wheel of a DKW coupé when, in the early hours of November 26, 1964, he crashed at high speed into a traffic light on Buenos Aires'

Figueroa Alcorta Avenue Avenida Figueroa Alcorta is a major thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a length of over along the city's northside. History The rapid northward growth of the city of Buenos Aires during the late nineteenth century was facilitated by ...

, killing himself at age 38.

References

1926 births 1964 deaths People from Las Piedras, Uruguay Tango singers Uruguayan tango musicians 20th-century Uruguayan male singers Uruguayan expatriates in Argentina Road incident deaths in Argentina {{Uruguay-singer-stub