This account of the life of Yeda Brown is based mainly on a report in Portuguese at http://yedabrownmusadedali.blogspot.com/2008/05/yeda-brown-la-musa-de-dal.html. That has numerous photos of Yeda and links to material in the Spanish press that are not repeated here.
Yeda is from Bagé, a town in Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil, close to the border with Uruguay. Brown was the child of a military officer and when rejected for military service as a transsexual, the father promptly paid for SRS. (But see later).
The name ‘Yeda’ was picked in homage to Ieda Vargas, Miss Universe.
In Dec 1967 Yeda left Bagé for Rio de Janeiro and by Feb 1968 was performing in the Teatro Rival, “a great place for a close-up look at musicians performing as seating is close to the stage. The menu has a humorous quirk with its selection of cold dishes being named after famous Brazilian actors.”
Various other engagements followed in Brazil and Uruguay, but in Jan 1974, Yeda moved to Paris.
Yeda had SRS in Belgium in Feb 1975.
In November 1975, Yeda became the first post-op transsexual to enter Spain, in the last days of Franco, visiting Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.
Yeda gained fame in theatre, magazines, records and half a dozen films. She became a hit with the people much as Roberta Close did in Brazil.
The press called her ‘the golden body’ and ‘the trans diva’. Her class, culture and beauty gained her entry into the jet set of Madrid.
Salvador Dalí met her and they became close. He introduced her to pop stars and the press now called her ‘the muse of Dalí’.
She lived by the beach in Benidorm, Valencia and was a star of popular television.
From 1996 to 2000, Yeda went back to Brazil to check out her roots and to get doucumentation changed.
Yeda moved first to Barcelona, then to Madrid, and a biography is in the making.
Note. The films made in the late 70s included one called ‘El Transexual’, released in 1977, based upon the story of Lorena Capelli, who had died during an illegal sex-change operation. By 1982, according to http://www.naschy.com/transexual.html, this was released on Spanish TV with a scene taken from another film, Tenebre, played by Eva Robyn’s.
4 comments:
Savador Dalí persued friendships with April Ashley, Amanda Lear, Mario Montez, Manuela Haro, International Chrysis as well as Yeda. Quite a list of trans women.
A definite interest on his part.
Thank you for posting this article about Yeda Brown. See new vídeos (interview in "Canal Sur"/Valência) in my blog.
well it must be really hard to be a transsexual and defend your beliefs at the time. This a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it. I heard he will be hired in the new Kamagra Gel spots in India, is it true?
Hi! Yeda Brown lives now in RIO. She's back to Brasil. See more about here http://yedabrownmusadedali.blogspot.com.br/
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