Flor Silvestre

Flor Silvestre, one of Mexico's greatest recording artists, was also a major star of classic Mexican movies from the 1950s and 1960s. She was born Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla in 1930 in Salamanca, a city in the State of Guanajuato. She inherited her talent from her parents, Jesús Jiménez Cervantes and María de Jesús Chabolla Peña, who were fond of singing mariachi music. Her mother wanted to live in Mexico City, so her father sold everything they owned in Salamanca and moved the family to the nation's capital. She made her debut at the age of 13 singing at the Teatro del Pueblo, a venue located in central Mexico City. Her first radio performances were broadcast by XEFO, Mexico's national radio station. Journalist and announcer Arturo Blancas suggested she change her stage name from La Soldadera (the title of one of her first songs and a play she was in) to Flor Silvestre (the title of a 1943 Dolores del Rio movie). She then won a singing contest sponsored by XEW, Mexico's most famous