One of the most important songwriters in the history of Brazilian music, Dorival Caymmi composed numerous classics that became standards of samba music and helped to lay the foundations of the bossa nova. He wrote his first hit for Carmen Miranda in the 1930s and lived on to become a grand old man of Brazilian culture.

He was born in 1914 in Salvador in the state of Bahia in north-eastern Brazil. He took up the guitar and was still in his teens when he wrote O Que É Que a Baiana Tem? (“What is it about Brazilian Women?”), which was subsequently recorded by Miranda in 1938 and which helped her on her way to becoming a Hollywood star.

The song also established a romantic pattern. Many of his songs were full of images of sultry, bikini-clad Brazilian beauties and endless sandy beaches, creating an image that stretched all the way forward to Antonio Carlos Jobim’s immortal The Girl From Ipanema. Jobim subsequently paid tribute to his inspiration, writing: “Dorival is a universal genius. He picked up the guitar and orchestrated the world.”

During the 1940s he wrote songs such as Marina and O Samba da Minha Terra which became classics of the Brazilian songbook. In a recording career spanning five decades he recorded countless albums which showcased his velvety, baritone voice, sometimes accompanied simply by his own laidback guitar and at other times by romantic orchestral arrangements. He also wrote numerous songs celebrating the fishermen and rural life of his native Bahia, although he moved to Rio de Janeiro in the 1930s and remained in the city for the rest of his life.

In the 1960s a number of his compositions were covered by the bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto. He also collaborated with Antonio Carlos Jobim and was a considerable influence on a new generation of “tropicalismo” stars such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

Somewhat surprisingly, few of his songs were translated into English, although his Dos Rosas was recorded as And Roses and Roses by both Andy Williams and Perry Como.

“His music is part of the nation’s cultural heritage”, the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared on the news of his death.

He is survived by his wife, the singer Stella Maris, whom he married in 1940 and two sons, Dori and Danilo, and a daughter, Nana, all of whom are successful musicians.

Dorival Caymmi, singer and songwriter. He was born in Salvador, Bahia on April 30, 1914. He died on August 16, 2008, aged 94