Sergio Frusoni


Sergio Frusoni was a poet and promoter of the Cape Verdean Creole language.

Biography

Sérgio was born in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, the son of Italian immigrants Giuseppe Frusoni and Erminia Bonucci. At the age of 24, he began to work at the Western Telegraph Company and changed later on to Italcable. In 1947, he managed the O Café Sport in Mindelo, the main city of São Vicente, where he presented poems and anecdotes in Crioulo. After that he went back to work for Italcable. In the 1960s, he conducted the theatre group Theatro do Castilho in Mindelo. For a number of years, he was chronicler at the radio Barlavento, where he produced the program Mosaico Mindelense in Crioulo.
Sérgio wrote many short stories and poems in the Creole of São Vicente. He died, aged 73, in Lisbon. He is well known in Cape Verde, but almost unknown outside the island.
On June 7, 2005, Capeverdean president Pedro Pires paid homage to Sergio Frusoni and declared him as one of the greatest Crioulo poets.
Corsino Fortes described Frusoni in Paralelo 14

Legacy

Some of his poems would be a part of the Tertúlia collection which featured poems made by other poets. In 2004, it was performed in a play at the 10th Mindelo Theatrical Festival.

Works

Some famous poems and short stories

Chronicles in Crioulo