Gilda Mignonette

Who was Gilda Mignonette?

Griselda Andreatini, better known by the stage name Gilda Mignonette, was a Neapolitan singer of international fame in the early 20th Century.

She began her career as a singer in theatrical revue shows, where she became a popular "sciantosa", but later dedicated herself mostly to the canzone napoletana genre, recording with major labels such as Columbia and HMV, and touring intensively abroad.

In the mid-1920s, she moved to New York, where she reached the apex of her international popularity with Neapolitan classics such as A cartulina 'e Napule or E l'emigrante chiagne.

In the early 1950s, she suffered severe health problems; having expressed the desire to die in her hometown in Naples, she actually died during the traversal by boat, off the Algerian coast.