Vinay at 20:22, 28 August 2025

2025-08-28T20:22:02Z

New page

{{Short description|Portuguese musician and writer (1920–2021)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Edila Gaitonde
| image = Edila Gaitonde.jpg
| alt = Edila Nava
| caption = Portrait of Edila Gaitonde
| birth_name = Edila Brum Dutra de Andrade
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|11|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Faial Island]], [[Azores]], [[Portugal]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|07|27|1920|11|3|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| relatives =
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
* {{Marriage|[[Pundalik Gaitonde]]|1948|1992|end=death}}
* {{Marriage|António Nava|2010|2017|end=death}}
}}
| other_names = Edila Nava
| occupation = Musician
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}

'''Edila Nava''' or '''Edila Gaitonde''' (born '''Edila Brum Dutra de Andrade'''; 3 November 1920 – 27 July 2021) was a Portuguese musician and writer.

== Life and career ==

=== Early life ===
Edila Brum Dutra de Andrade<ref name="Faialense20">{{Cite web|date=23 February 2020|url=http://correiodosacores.pt/NewsDetail/ArtMID/383/ArticleID/20420/Faialense-Edila-Gaintonde-merece-uma-distin231227o-nos-A231ores-e-em-Portugal|title=Faialense Edila Gaintonde merece uma distinção nos Açores e em Portugal|trans-title=Edila Gaintonde from Faial deserves a distinction in the Azores and Portugal|url-status=dead|access-date=27 Dec 2024|archive-date=2 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502100137/http://correiodosacores.pt/NewsDetail/ArtMID/383/ArticleID/20420/Faialense-Edila-Gaintonde-merece-uma-distin231227o-nos-A231ores-e-em-Portugal|work=Correío dos Açores|language=pt-PT}}</ref> was born on 3 November 1920 to Júlio Dutra Andrade and Adelaide Albertina Brum, on the [[Faial Island]] in the [[Azores]] islands just off the coast of [[Portugal]].<ref name="HeraldTyrants20">{{Cite web|first=Selma|last=Carvalho|date=26 Nov 2020|url=https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Opinions/Thus-always-to-tyrants/167962|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502100806/https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Opinions/Thus-always-to-tyrants/167962|archive-date=2 May 2021|title=Thus always to tyrants |work=[[oHeraldo]]}}</ref> Júlio was a poet, playwright, journalist and sportsman who had published several books of his own.<ref name="Faialense20" />

Edila's parents were amateur musicians and encouraged her to study music further. She thus joined the Lisbon Music Conservatory to study music and pursue it as a career. By 1943, the family had moved to Lisbon for the same. Back then, it was rare for an Azorean woman to move to Lisbon.<ref name="Faialense20" />

=== First marriage ===
Edila was originally in a romantic relationship with a Portuguese man named António Nava, also from Faial island, since she was a teenager.<ref name="Faialense20" />
In 1947, Edila, while busy with her studies, fell ill for a long period of time, caused by her exhaustion. Her cousin then invited [[Pundalik Gaitonde]], a wealthy [[Hindu]] [[Brahmin]] doctor, to visit her. Gaitonde diagnosed her with double [[pleurisy]]. Her recovery took a year, during which she began a relationship with Gaitonde.<ref name="HeraldTyrants20" />

Pundalik and Edila decided to marry, but faced stiff opposition from their respective families. However, Pundalik's father later relented and granted permission. Pundalik and Edila married<ref name="ToITriumphs12">{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/bringing-alive-trials-triumphs-of-goans-under-the-portuguese/articleshow/13912708.cms |title = Edila Gaitonde: Bringing alive trials, triumphs of Goans under the Portuguese | website=[[The Times of India]] | date=8 June 2012 }}</ref> in a civil ceremony in 1948, making her the first White Portuguese woman to marry a Goan Hindu man.<ref name="HeraldTyrants20" /> They spent their [[honeymoon]] at [[Peniche, Portugal|Peniche]].<ref name="Jeevanrekha09" /> The couple had no children.<ref name="HeraldTyrants20" />

Gaitonde selected [[Peniche, Portugal|Peniche]] as the honeymoon destination because it was the location of the prison-fort where several activists of the [[Goa Liberation Movement]] such as [[Tristão de Bragança Cunha]], [[Purushottam Kakodkar]], [[Rama Hegde]], [[José Inácio Candido de Loyola]] and [[Laxmikant Bhembre]] were imprisoned. These prisoners organised a celebration in honour of Pundalik and Edila, and hosted a meal for the newlyweds. A woman journalist from France was on a visit to the prison in order to meet [[Tristão de Bragança Cunha]]. When she questioned Pundalik Gaitonde about why he had selected [[Peniche, Portugal|Peniche]] as the destination for the honeymoon, Dr. Gaitonde replied, "Homage to sacrifice!"<ref name="Jeevanrekha09">{{cite book|title=डॉ. पुंडलिक गायतोंडे: जीवनरेखा |trans-title = Dr. Pundalik Gaitonde: Jeevanrekha|editor-first=Somnath |editor-last=Komarpant |date=April 2009 |publisher= Shivanand Gaitonde, Sateri Prakashan |location=Pune |language=mr}}</ref><ref name="FaleiroGoa1961">{{Cite book |last=Faleiro |first=Valmiki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYLyEAAAQBAJ |title=Goa, 1961: The Complete Story of Nationalism and Integration |date=2023-07-24 |publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5708-175-7 |pages=22–23 |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref>

=== Life after first marriage ===
They soon moved to Goa, with Edila moving in with Gaitonde's Hindu family. Gaitonde then began his medical practice there, while continuing his nationalist activities as part of the National Congress (Goa). Against the family's advice, Edila started a music school with the intention of the Western classical music education in Goa. In 1952, she trained 30 candidates for the examinations of the [[Royal School of Music]] in London. The school sent an examiner to Goa only for this.<ref name="Faialense20" />

When Gaitonde was arrested and deported to Portugal in 1954, Edila travelled with him. He was initially detained in the Aljube prison in [[Lisbon]] and later placed under [[house arrest]] in [[Porto]].<ref name="HeraldTyrants20" /> Later in 1955, they moved to India, living in Mumbai and subsequently in Delhi.<ref name="Faialense20" />

Following his defeat in the 1963 Lok Sabha elections, Gaitonde left Goa permanently for [[London]]<ref name="ShirodkarWho86">{{Cite book |last=Shirodkar |first=Pandurang Purushottam |author-link=Pandurang Purushottam Shirodkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISScyAEACAAJ |title=Who's Who of Freedom Fighters, Goa, Daman, and Diu |date=1986 |publisher=Goa Gazetteer Department, Government of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman, and Diu |volume=1 |pages=106–107}}</ref> with Edila. He then worked in a hospital there till he retired and began writing.<ref name="IndependentObituary">{{Cite news |first=Antonio |last=de Figueiredo |date=21 December 1992 |title=Obituary: Pundlik Gaitonde |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-pundlik-gaitonde-1564838.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707203350/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-pundlik-gaitonde-1564838.html |archive-date=7 July 2022 |access-date=2024-12-22 |work=The Independent |language=en-GB |url-access=subscription |url-status=live }}</ref> Meanwhile, Edila taught music in various high schools and they both published multiple books.<ref name="Faialense20" /> Gaitonde died in London in 1992.<ref name="IndependentObituary">{{Cite news |first=Antonio |last=de Figueiredo |date=21 December 1992 |title=Obituary: Pundlik Gaitonde |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-pundlik-gaitonde-1564838.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707203350/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-pundlik-gaitonde-1564838.html |archive-date=7 July 2022 |access-date=2024-12-22 |work=The Independent |language=en-GB |url-access=subscription |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Writing career ===
Edila authored multiple books during her stay in London. Her first book, ''In Search of Tomorrow'', covers her life in India after her marriage. Her second book, ''The Tulsi'', is a collection of short stories, including about the life of a Portuguese woman and her experiences in a Goan Hindu household.<ref name="ToITriumphs12" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Paul Michael Melo e |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0-yVDwAAQBAJ |title=Colonial and Post-Colonial Goan Literature in Portuguese: Woven Palms |date=2019-02-15 |publisher=University of Wales Press |isbn=978-1-78683-391-4 |page=249}}</ref> Her last book, ''Edmund the Mariner'', covers the Spanish rule in Portugal, drawing a parallel to the Portuguese rule in Goa.<ref name="ToITriumphs12" /> She also wrote ''As Maçãs Azuis: Portugal e Goa 1948–1961'' ({{Translation|''The Blue Apples: Portugal and Goa 1948-1961''}}), describing to her mother.<ref name="FaleiroGoa1961" />

=== Second marriage ===
During a visit to her native Faial, she reunited with her first boyfriend António Nava, now a widower and the father of the poet Luís Miguel Nava. Nava and Edila got married in 2010, and lived in [[Leça da Palmeira|Leça de Palmeira]], in [[Porto]], until his death in 2017.<ref name="Faialense20" />

=== Death ===
Edila died on 27 July 2021 at the age of 100.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 July 2021 |title=Ativista Edila Gaitonde, envolvida na libertação de Goa, Damão e Diu morre aos 100 anos |trans-title=Activist Edila Gaitonde, involved in the liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu dies at 100 |url=https://observador.pt/2021/07/27/ativista-edila-gaitonde-envolvida-na-libertacao-de-goa-damao-e-diu-morre-aos-100-anos/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=Observador |language=pt-PT}}</ref>

== Works ==
* ''In Search of Tomorrow''
* ''The Tulsi''
* ''As Maçãs Azuis: Portugal e Goa 1948–1961'' ({{Translation|''The Blue Apples: Portugal and Goa 1948-1961''}})
* ''Edmund the Mariner''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaitonde, Edila}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Goa liberation activists]]
[[Category:People from Faial Island]]

Edila Gaitonde - Revision history

Vinay at 20:22, 28 August 2025