The myth of Carlos Gardel shines brighter in Buenos Aires with a compilation of his personal belongings thanks to the meeting between collector Walter Santoro and heiress Nuria Fortuny, who created an international foundation with the name of the popular singer.

Hair brushes, a pearl necklace from his mother, doña Berta, pasta records, guitars, his hat together with his mythical tie, letters, signed contracts and photographs are some of the relics of the mythical artist that Santoro has acquired over the years.

It all began when the collector, a great admirer of Gardel, who was  outraged two years ago to see the state of the singer's mausoleum, located in the cemetery of the neighborhood of Chacarita in the city of Buenos Aires.

For this reason, he undertook "a crusade" to restore the place and in his investigations he met Nuria Cortada de Fortuny, one of Gardel's last heirs, from whom he asked her authorization to solve bureaucratic procedures.

The idea of creating the Carlos Gardel International Foundation arose from this meeting, which has a legacy of more than 40,000 objects linked to tango, 5,000 of which belong to the Argentine singer and which seeks to preserve the most emblematic style of music and dance in Rio de la Plata.

Fortuny became one of the "gardelian" heirs thanks to the friendship of his grandfather Ramón de Fortuny with Armando Delfino, the representative of Gardel and his wife, Adela Blasco. In order for Nuria to become an heiress, Gardel made a will in favour of her mother, Doña Berta, who in turn had tested in Delfino.

The Foundation, constituted in just eight months, does not yet have a physical headquarters but Santoro assures that they are looking for "gardelian" commissions in other countries, including France and Spain, with the main objective of extending their mission.

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