Wilfy Rebimbus

Wilfy Rebimbus
Wilfred Gerald Rebimbus KONKANI KOGUL

Wilfred Gerald Rebimbus (2 April 1942 – 9 March 2010) was a Konkani singer and lyricist. He was known as Konkan Kogul ("the nightingale of Konkani").

Early life and family

Hailing from a Mangalorean Catholic family, Wilfy was born on 2 April 1942 to Landeline Rebimbus and Magdeline Mendonca in Mangalore. Both his parents hail from Kanhangad in Kerala. Wilfy had his primary and high school education at Milagres High School in Mangalore. Later, he did a mechanical course before joining St Joseph’s Workshop as an apprentice. He was a talented singer right since his student days as was evident from the numerous prizes he had won in various singing events. He had started composing Konkani songs at the age of 14 and authored his first drama Poishanso Sounsar (World of Money) when he was 15 and staged it through the St Joseph’s Natak Sangh. He founded the musical group called United Youngsters Music Party in 1959 when he was just 17. It is now known as United Youngsters Cultural Association. Apart from singing, Wilfy was also a good athlete and also a Kabaddi player during his school days.^[1] He was credited for taking modern Konkani music to new heights with his unique compositions and singing style. In a career spanning about 4 decades, Wilfy wrote thousands of songs and staged 248 Wilfy Nites. He released some forty albums, six devotional albums and at least one instrumental album.

Wilfy was diagnosed to be suffering from lung cancer and underwent a surgery in September 2009.^[2] He died of complications from lung cancer on 9 March 2010.^[3]

References