Manuel Altamira

Manuel Altamira (Inriville, Córdoba, 20 January 1924 - Buenos Aires, 14 February 1990) was an Argentine tenor.

From an early age he took a keen interest in the development of the Argentine tango in the footsteps of his idol Carlos Gardel. At the same time, he acquired a vast repertoire of songs belonging to folk genres such as the milonga, gato, carnavalito, and others. His fine tenor voice and his natural and winning stage presence earned him the nickname "Gardelito" or short "Lito". During the 1940s and 50s he came to enjoy considerable renown in Buenos Aires, especially in historic San Telmo. His dissemination of a great number of tango songs contributed to de preservation and development of the genre.

In 1951 he married Elvira Riestra, a descendant from an old Spanish family from Lugo. Among their two daughters, whom he taught the art of singing from an early age, Cristina Altamira took to music, eventually developing an international career as a performer of Latin American music. Manuel Altamira was a loyal supporter of the regime of Juan Domingo Perón and with his wife volunteered in numerous social projects.