Gilbert Favre

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Gilbert Favre (d. December 12, 1998) was a flautist of Swiss and French descent. He also played the quena as a founding member of the popular Bolivian folk group Los Jairas. Favre was commonly referred to as "El Gringo" by the Bolivian public. Allegedly, while living in Chile, as an anthropologist, Favre and Violeta Parra met and they fell in love, provoking Parra's divorce. Favre eventually left for Bolivia and started playing and experimenting with Andean music with virtouso guitar player Alfredo Dominguez and renowned Ernesto Cavour, but Violeta would follow and be part of the scene of La Paz for a while. However, as Favre, Dominguez and Cavour started having resonance in the media and becoming popular he decided that he was not going back to Chile and Violeta left for good; she would later write the famous song Gracias A la Vida (que me ha dado tanto)", dedicated to Gilbert, and commit suicide.