NINA SIMONE

(1993-2003)
•Eunice Kathleen Waymon,
born February 21, 1933, Tryon, 
North Carolina, U.S.—died
April 21, 2003, Carry-le-Rouet,
France).
•American singer who

sang songs of love, protest, and

Black empowerment.
•Reputation for throwing

onstage tantrums, insulting

inattentive audiences, and
abruptly canceling concerts. 
•Classical musician.

•One of the first black artists to

enter the renowned Juilliard

School of Music in New York.
•Simone's mother, Mary Kate
Waymon, was a Methodist
minister and a domestic
worker.
•Simone's father, John Divine

Waymon, was a woodworker,

who also ran his own dry
cleaning business, despite his
breathing problems.
•She tried to join the music

institute Curtis Institute, with

the help of a private teacher
but she was not selected.
 Her married life was not always a sea of roses, she had a love-hate relationship with her
husband. Despite being beaten numerous times by him, she was unable to let him go. Duality
that can also be seen in her relationship with hers daughter, later also beaten by her mother.
•“Mississippi Goddam” - Talk
about the murder of four black
children in a Birmingham
church in 1963
•“Ain´t got No, I Got Life” -

The lyrics expose consequences

of the racist regime: “Ain’t got
no house, Ain’t got no shoes /
Ain’t got no money, Ain’t got
no class”, and then say how
you feel and how all blacks
should feel: “I've got life /I've
got my freedom” .
•"Are you ready to kill if

necessary?"
She was diagnosed with  type 2 bipolar disorder in the late 1980s. She
was known for her temper and outbursts of aggression. 

Singer-songwriter Janis Ian, a one-time

friend of Simone's, related in her own
autobiography, Society's Child: My
Autobiography, two instances to
illustrate Simone's volatility.
•In 1993 she bought a mansion
in the city of Aix-en-Provence,
in the south of France. A few
months later, on routine
exams, she discovered that she
had advanced breast cancer,
which left her extremely
depressed.
•She sold it in 1998, deciding to

move in search of stronger

treatment. She then bought a
house in Carry-le-Rouet.
BIPOLAR
DISORDER
•Manic-depressive illness.
•affects about 4% of people in

adulthood. The number of

people diagnosed with this
condition can reach 6 million
people in Brazil.
•These mood states range from

periods of extremely
“upward”, exalted and
energized behavior (known as
manic episodes) to very sad,
“low” or hopeless periods
(known as depressive
episodes). Less severe manic
periods are known as
hypomanic episodes.
 Types of Bipolar Disorder
BIPOLAR DISORDER I BIPOLAR DISORDER II
 defined by manic episodes that last  defined by a pattern of
at least 7 days, or by manic depressive episodes and
symptoms that are so severe that the hypomanic episodes, but not
person needs immediate hospital
manic episodes.
care. Generally, depressive episodes
also occur, typically lasting at least 2
weeks. Episodes of depression with
mixed characteristics (with
depression and manic symptoms at
the same time) are also possible.