page_title: António Variações
section_title: Death
hierarchical_section_title: António Variações / Death
caption_attribution_description: English: Bust of Antonio Variacoes in Fiscal, Amares Portugal, do escultor Arlindo Fagundes
context_page_description: António Joaquim Rodrigues Ribeiro, was a Portuguese singer and songwriter. Despite his short-lived career due to his premature death at the age of thirty-nine, using the stage name of António Variações, he became one of the most culturally significant performing artists of recent Portuguese history. His recorded works blended contemporary music genres with traditional Portuguese rhythms and melodies, creating music which for many is symbolic of the liberalization that occurred in Portuguese society after the Carnation Revolution of 1974. The original and provocative nature of his recorded works has led to him being widely recognized as one of the most innovative artists in the recent history of Portuguese popular music.
context_section_description: On 18 May 1984 Variações was admitted to the Pulido Valente hospital with symptoms of asthmatic bronchitis and later transferred to the Red Cross Clinic. At the time, the health of the artist was severely debilitated and rumours about his condition being brought on by AIDS started to circulate, which, given the prejudice towards the disease at the time, made him a target of some discrimination. Save for his family and closest friends, he received few visitors during his stay at the hospital. In June, the press released news that his health state had deteriorated considerably.
  At dawn on 13 June António Variações died due to a bilateral bronchial pneumonia. His funeral was held on 15 June at the Estrela Basilica, where family, friends, fellow musicians, barbers, and fans paid their last respects. The funeral stirred some controversy because the authorities ordered that his coffin be sealed for public health concerns, which further fueled the rumors that he had died as a result of AIDS-related complications. The family of António Variações doesn't acknowledge that this was the actual cause of death (or that he was a homosexual), but it is assumed by most that he was one of the first public victims of the disease in Portugal. His former manager, Teresa Couto Pinto, has claimed that, prior to his death, Variações had received clinical test results performed in the United States confirming that he was indeed HIV-positive. His remains were buried in the cemetery of Amares, where they still rest today.
caption: Bust of António Variações in Fiscal, Amares, sculpted by the artist Arlindo Fagundes
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