Yma Sumac
Peruvian-American singer (1922–2008)
Zoila Emperatriz Chávarri Castillo (September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008), known as Yma Sumac (from Quechua "Ima sumaq", meaning "how beautiful"), was a Peruvian-born vocalist, actress, model, musical composer and producer. She won a Guinness World Record for the Greatest Range of Musical Value in 1956. She has also been called "Queen of Exotica" and is considered a pioneer of world music. Her debut album, Voice of the Xtabay (1950), peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, selling a million copies in the United States, and its single, "Virgin of the Sun God (Taita Inty)", was a big seller in the United Kingdom, becoming an international success in the 1950s. Subsequent albums including Legend of the Sun Virgin (1952), Fuego del Ande (1959) and Mambo! (1955), were also successful.
In 1951, Sumac became the first Latin American and Peruvian female singer to debut on Broadway. In "Chuncho (The Forest Creatures)" (1953), she developed her own technical singing, named "double voice" or "triple coloratura". During the same period, she performed at Carnegie Hall and Lewisohn Stadium. In 1960, she became the first Latin American woman to get a phonograph record star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Yma Sumac” is peruvian-American singer (1922–2008). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Sumac, Peruvian-American and singer, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “peruvian-American singer (1922–2008)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q239030. VIAF identifies the subject as 306428720. The Library of Congress control number is no91012967. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1922, 2008, 1956 and 1950.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Yma Sumac”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Yma Sumac primary sources, Yma Sumac archive and Sumac research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Yma Sumac”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Yma Sumac” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.