Hector Roberto Chavero Aramburo was born in Pergamino, a province around 200 kilometres away from Buenos Aires, on January 31st 1908. By the 1960’s he was considered one of the most important Argentinian, and Latin American, folk musicians of all time. br br Choosing not to showcase his family name on stage, instead, Hector decided to adopt the alias of Atahualpa Yupanqui. A pseudonym combining the names of two legendary Incan kings. With a father hailing from Argentina and a mother descending from the Basque country, Yupanqui was blessed with a healthy cultural mix, which undoubtedly went some way towards fuelling his desire for travel. br br His first musical experience was of playing the violin, but he would soon switch to guitar, and became something of a troubadour, singing folk songs as he travelled around Argentina. This was made possible by his early jobs of delivering telegrams and of working as a muleteer, which is to deliver goods by mule. Gradually the travelling would become more than just a job. He spent a lot of time in the northwest of Argentina and the Altiplano studying the Amerindian indigenous culture. Of particular note, in 1934 he took part in an ethnological study of the Amaichas Indians with Alfred Métraux. It was during these travels that he would learn rhythms such as the zamba, vidala and chacarera, that he would later popularise in his songs. br br During this time, the young Yupanqui grappled with political ideologies and decided to join the Communist Party of Argentina. In 1931 the Argentine took part in the attempted, and ultimately unsuccessful, uprising of the Kennedy brothers, which resulted in the musician being forced to seek refuge in Uruguay. Yupanqui would not return to his native land until 1934. br br Yupanqui first visited Buenos Aires in 1935, when he was invited to perform on one of the local radio stations at the time and it was shortly after this event that the Argentine met his long-time, collaborative, musical partner and future wife; pianist Antonieta Paula Pepin Fitzpatrick (nicknamed “Nenette”). “Nenette” accompanied Yupanqui for many years under the pseudonym of Pablo Del Cerro, creating vibrant and entertaining compositions. It was also around this time that he became a published writer, with Cerro Bajo hitting Argentine bookshelves in 1941.