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The 'new Josephine Baker'

The family of the cabaret performer Miss Bartira have given researcher Adjoa Osei access to photos, fan mail and documents, which tell her story from 30s Paris to her death in 1981.

Miss Bartira performed across Europe in the 30s with an erotic acrobatic act, which landed her a brief stint in a Swedish prison for indecency and after she tackled a male heckler. During World War II, she acted as a spy and the marriage in 1946 of this mixed race Brazilian cabaret performer to a British aristocrat caused a scandal. Researcher and New Generation Thinker Adjoa Osei has been tracing her story with the help of a trove of photographs, letters and documents given her by Miss Bartira's family. We hear from grandson Martin and from the writer Sala Patterson.

Producer: Paula MacFarlane.

New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the Âé¶¹Éç and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to showcase new research in radio programmes.

Release date:

14 minutes

On radio

Sunday 19:45

Broadcast

  • Sunday 19:45

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