João Maria Tudela

João Maria Tudela (August 27, 1929, in

Mozambique – April 22, 2011, in Cascais), was a Portuguese

History

João Maria Tudela was born in

Portuguese African territory of Mozambique in 1929. His father's family was wealthy with noble ancestors; Tudela's grandmother gave to his father a part of her patrimony when he married Tudela'a mother. While in Mozambique with his young parents, his father fled the territory for the United Kingdom on a cruise ship, after he fell in love with a British woman (Tudela would only see his father again as a 16-year-old student in Coimbra

; his mother would marry another man that Tudela would always call his "father"). Tudela described his biological father as a "prince" who a premature marriage at 18 years had turned into an emotionally unstable person.

He spent his early youth studying in

Coimbra University

Law School. In Coimbra he joined the academic music groups and, though his studies did not progress and he did not graduate, his artistic talent was developed. Due to his scarce interest and lack of results at the university, his family imposed his return to Mozambique after four years with little academic progress.

Tudela worked first for the insurance company

Carnation revolution

(1974), Tudela only acted as an entertainer in a few RTP TV shows and theatre and casino performances.