Cláudio Alvim Barbosa, better known by Florianópolis residents as Zininho, was born on May 08, 1929 in the city of Biguaçu. Son of Alvim Godofredo Barbosa and Teodora Silva Barbosa, he lost his father when he was just two years old, which led him to be raised by his paternal grandparents in the surroundings of Largo 13 de Maio, in the capital.
It was still during his childhood that Zininho began to demonstrate his poetic and musical inclinations: he liked to listen to carnival marches on the radio and went out to the streets of the city with his family to follow the blocks and parties. In fact, her grandmother was well-known in the Estreito neighborhood for organizing costumed sea baths for children.
As an adult, he became involved with the universe of samba schools in Florianópolis, especially with Narciso e Dião, which later gave rise to Protegidos da Princesa. Throughout the 1960s, Zininho composed several samba-plots for the school, especially “Homage to the Princess”, “Racial Prejudice” and “Homage to Carriço”.
Zininho was also an assiduous figure in Florianópolis' nightlife. Bohemian, most of his compositions were inspired by the stories he saw, heard or lived during the nights. Making cigarettes and whiskey his most faithful companions, he shared the bar tables with other artists in the city and enchanted his interlocutors with the subtlety of his humor.
The gift of communication notably influenced his professional life. He was a producer of talk shows, worked with advertising, was a sound designer, creator of jingles, singer, songwriter, announcer, among others. It was during the production of a program that Zininho met Neide Mariarrosa, who would become his favorite interpreter of the songs he composed.
In 1965, the mayor of Florianópolis, General Vieira da Rosa, wanted to end his term with a gift to Florianópolis. For this, he announced the contest “A song for Florianópolis”. With more than 200 entries, the competition was held in September and first place went to what would become Zininho's most famous composition, “Rancho de Amor à Ilha”.
Three years later, the song was still so popular among the city's residents that councilor Waldemar da Silva Filho - also known as Caruso - introduced a bill that proposed that it become the capital's anthem. The project did not take long to be accepted and, since then, the “Rancho do Amor à Ilha” is considered the Official Anthem of Florianópolis.
The intense process of modernization that Florianópolis underwent throughout the 1970s profoundly affected Zininho's relationship with the capital. Despite not being a native of the city, the poet considered himself “manezinho” and could not accept that the city described in “Racho de Amor à Ilha” was “replaced”. In his last years, Zininho didn't even open the curtains in his house so he wouldn't have to face the “new” city.
He died at five minutes on September 5, 1998, at the Nereu Ramos hospital, where he had been hospitalized for three days due to pulmonary emphysema. In the following year's carnival, he received a tribute from the Protegidos da Princesa with the samba-enredo “Jamais Não Poeta had Tanto Pra Cantar”, composed by José Nicodemo Ribeiro and Paulo Sérgio Góis.
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