Francisca

Francisca Marqués López , Raquel Meller

Tarazona , 9 de marzo de 1888
Barcelona , 26 de julio de 1962

Performer

Singer and cupletista of Aragonese origin, the family moved to Barcelona where she worked as assistant to a dressmaker until 1908, when she managed to perform in the theaters of Paral·lel with the name of La bella Raquel. In 1911, she made his debut at Arnau Theater, already under the name of Raquel Meller. There, she became famous for cuplets such as La violetera or El reliquiario, which drove his career internationally. From the 1920s she moved to Paris, where she performed on stage and in about a dozen films - mainly silent films but the latest, soundtracks - as well as in numerous recordings. Success led her to travel to Latin America and the United States, where she participated in films produced in Hollywood. After the Spanish Civil War, she returned to Barcelona, where, the by the changes in the show business contributed to gradual loss of her popularity and the final abandoning of her artistic career. She is considered the most internationally renowned Spanish artist of the 1920s and 1930s.