Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena, a renewal and a reinvention of Chilean folk music that would extend its sphere of influence outside Chile. Parra is acknowledged as "the Mother of Latin American folk".
Her birthdate was chosen "Chilean Musicians' Day". In 2011, Andrés Wood directed a biopic about her, titled Violeta Went to Heaven.