Asmahan: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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'''Asmahan''' ({{lang-ar|<big>أسمهان</big>}} ''{{transl|ar|Asmahān}}''; birth name: '''Amal al-Atrash'''; born: October 25, 1918 at Mediterranean Sea; died: July 14, 1944 in [[Nile River]], [[Egypt]])<ref>[http://almadapaper.net/paper.php?source=akbar&mlf=interpage&sid=64405 Newspaper Article] al-Mada, "وشاءت لها الاقدار أن ترحل في الماء أيضا في حادث غامض في ترعة طلخا على نهر النيل قرب مدينة المنصورة يوم 14- 7 - 1944"</ref> was a Druze [[Syria]]n-[[Egypt]]ian<ref name="alquds.co.uk">[http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=2008\05\05-23\21m25.htm&storytitle= Newspaper Article by Abdel-Fadil Taha 2008-05-23 [[Al-Quds Al-Arabi]], "وحصلت الأسرة علي الجنسية المصرية وظلت تنعم بها ومنهم اسمهان بالطبع"]</ref> singer and actor belonging to a princely Druze family of [[Syria]]n-[[Lebanese]] origin. Having immigrated to Egypt in childhood, she became the apprentice of Egyptian classical music pioneers, [[Dawood Hussnei]], [[Mohammed al-Qasabji]] and [[Zakariyya Ahmad]].<ref>[http://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/article.asp?ln=ar&id=8358 Lebanese Army Journal, Issue Number 241, July 2005]</ref><ref>Al-Atrash, Majid (2005), Asmahan: Amirat at-tarab was-saif wan-nada (Asmahan: The princess of music, war and grace) Al-'Adyat magazine, p.75-77, in Arabic</ref> She also sang the compositions of [[Mohammed Abdel Wahab]] and her brother [[Farid al-Atrash]], a then rising star musician in his own right. Hers was the only voice in Arab music to ever pose a serious competition to that of [[Umm Kulthum]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=85}}</ref> considered to be the Arab world's most famousdistinguished singer of the 20th century.<ref>[http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Arts&Culture/Music&Singing/Music&SingingStars/070602000000000001.htm Prominent Egyptians - Egyptian Government State Information Service]</ref> Her mysterious, untimely death by drowning at the age of twenty-six drew speculations about tribulations in her personal life and an espionage role in World War II.

==Early life==

[[Image:Farid Asmahan.jpg|thumb|Asmahan and her brother Farid]]

Asmahan was born to Fahd al-Atrash, a [[Syria]]n Druze from [[As-Suwayda|Suwayda]], and 'Alia al-Mundhir, a [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] Druze from [[Hasbaya]]. Her father was married twice and had two children before marrying 'Alia al-Mundhir. <ref name="Enchantment 81">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|1998|p=81}}</ref> Her mother was a singer and an [[oud]] player who played a big part in her children's musical upbringing. Asmahan's brother, [[Farid al-Atrash|Farid]], was a musician, singer and an oud player; he composed several of her songs.<ref name="Enchantment 83">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|1998|p=83}}</ref> She also had an older brother, Fuad, and a sister and brother, Widad and Anwar who both had died at a very young age.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=29}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=38}}</ref>

In October 1918, during [[World War I]], as the [[Allied Forces]] were advancing against the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the [[Balkan]]s, Asmahan's father feared being attacked by [[Greece|Greek]] Allied troops, due to his post as the Ottoman-appointed governor of [[Dimerji]]. Thus, upon being warned of the arrival of Greek troops, he fled to [[Izmir]] with his two sons (Fu'ad, the eldest, and Farid) and his pregnant wife.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|pp=24-25}}</ref> From Izmir, they boarded a boat to [[Beirut]]. On November 23{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}, while still on the trip, Asmahan was born. Fahd suggested naming her "Bahriyya" (meaning "of the sea" in Arabic), but her mother objected and decided to name her "Amal", meaning "hope".<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=26}}</ref> Fahd was later appointed as a judge in [[As-Suwayda|Suwayda]].<ref name="Enchantment 81"/>

===Al Atrash clan===

===Flee from the Jabal (the mountain)===

The al-[[Atrash]] clan was a Syrian Druze family, known for its role in the [[Syrian Revolution]] and the resistance against the [[French mandate of Syria]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Provence|first=Michael |title=The great Syrian revolt and the rise of Arab nationalism|publisher=University of Texas Press|date=2005|edition=illustrated|pages=72|isbn=9780292706804|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ej8ZMk1822sC&pg=PA72&dq=sultan+al+atrash}}</ref> Trouble erupted with the colonial power after [[Faisal I of Iraq|King Faysals]] defeat and the [[Adham Khanjar]] incident which [[Sultan al-Atrash]] and his men had participated in. The fighting with the french continued for almost a year after. 'Alia couldn't endure the hostilities anymore and felt that she must protect her two children. When shelling of the al-Atrash home in Suwayda began she left for [[Damascus]] and refused to return. Fahd sent his cousin Salim al-Atrash to bring her back together with his kids. After receiving Fahds message 'Alia told him that the only way her children would return to Suwayda was if he killed her, but that Fahd in return would be cursed for the deaths of their children, who might be killed of the fighting in Suwayda. Salim gave her all the money he had, thinking she would eventually return when the chaos would end in Suwayda.<ref>Zuhur 2000 p=37-38</ref> Later in life when Asmahan spoke about her childhood in Suwayda, she remembered it as a happy and carefree period, although she did not spend much time in the Jabal, it was what she saw as her "home" rather then Lebanon or Turkey.<ref>Zuhur 2000 p=36</ref>▼

The al-[[Atrash]] clan was a Syrian Druze family, known for its role in the [[Syrian Revolution]] and the resistance against the [[French mandate of Syria]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Provence|first=Michael |title=The great Syrian revolt and the rise of Arab nationalism|publisher=University of Texas Press|date=2005|edition=illustrated|pages=72|isbn=9780292706804|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ej8ZMk1822sC&pg=PA72&dq=sultan+al+atrash}}</ref>

▲The al-[[Atrash]] clan was a Syrian Druze family, known for its role in the [[Syrian Revolution]] and the resistance against the [[French mandate of Syria]] in the 1920s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Provence|first=Michael |title=The great Syrian revolt and the rise of Arab nationalism|publisher=University of Texas Press|date=2005|edition=illustrated|pages=72|isbn=9780292706804|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ej8ZMk1822sC&pg=PA72&dq=sultan+al+atrash}}</ref> Trouble erupted with the colonial power after [[Faisal I of Iraq|King Faysals]] defeat and the [[Adham Khanjar]] incident which [[Sultan al-Atrash]] and his men had participated in. The fighting with the frenchFrench continued for almost a year after. 'Alia couldn't endure the hostilities anymore and felt that she must protect her two children. When shelling of the al-Atrash home in Suwayda{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} began she left for [[Damascus]] and refused to return. Fahd sent his cousin Salim al-Atrash to bring her back together with his kids. After receiving Fahds message 'Alia told him that the only way her children would return to Suwayda was if he killed her, but that Fahd in return would be cursed for the deaths of their children, who might be killed of the fighting in Suwayda. Salim gave her all the money he had, thinking she would eventually return when the chaos would end in Suwayda.<ref>Zuhur 2000 p=37-38</ref> Later in life when Asmahan spoke about her childhood in Suwaydathe Jabal, she remembered it as a happy and carefree period, although she did not spend much time in the Jabal, it was whatthe sheJabal sawthat as herhad imprinted itself as "home" rather thenthan their residences in Lebanon orand Turkey.<ref>Zuhur 2000 p=36</ref>

===Immigration to Egypt===

'Alia and her children moved on to [[Beirut]] but after being notifiedalerted that she might be arrested by the frenchFrench to force a ceasefire in Suwayda,. she She drove south with her children, Fuad, Farid, and Amal al-Atrash, to [[Haifa]], [[Palestine]], where, on Fuad's advice, she sold the car and they boarded a train toward Egypt.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=39}}</ref> 'Alia chose to escape to [[Egypt]] because Egypt was under British, as opposed to French, mandate and she knew of a written correspondence relationship between [[Sultan al-Atrash]] and Egypt's prime minister [[Saad Zaghloul]], each fighting colonial occupation on his respective turf.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoFmMGNOxLs Interview with Fuad al-Atrash. Time 4:34.]</ref> At the immigration check-point in Al-Arish, they were confronted by Egyptian immigration officials, for not possessing any passports. 'Alia asked a border official to call Saad Zaghloul and ask him to sponsor her, 'Alia Al-Mundhir Al-Atrash, from the House of Sultan Al-Atrash. Zaghloul came online and agreed to personally sponsor the family into Egypt.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=39}}</ref>

She and her children hid under a pseudonym, Kusa (meaning zucchini), fearing French action against the al-Atrash family in Egypt.<ref name="secrets 53">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=53}}</ref> 'Alia started to take laundry, sew, sing at private parties and record songs to support herself and her children. This gave her musical connections which she used to provide Farid and Amal professional musical training.<ref name="Enchantment 81"/> `Alia's husband threatened to divorce her if she did not return to Syria.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} 'Alia refused and was therefore divorced.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} Her husband remarried and later Later in life, Asmahan would meetrefer to her halffather and Sultan al Atrash to clarify her lineage. She once said to a friend questioning her about her mission during WW2: "Don't you know who I am? Why I am the daughter of Fahd al Atrash and cousin to the Amir al Atrash (actually she was a third cousin twice removed) and the Druze revolutionary hero Sultan al-siblingsAtrash".<ref>{{Citation neededHarvnb|dateZuhur|2000|p=July 200937}}</ref>

==Career==

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Asmahan's musical talents were discovered by the renowned composer, [[Dawood Hosni]] on visiting her brother Farid. He happened to hear Amal singing while she was in her room, so he demanded to see her immediately and asked her to sing again. Amal sang one more time and Hussnei was very impressed and pleased. After Amal finished her singing, he told her she reminded him of a musical student he once had, who possessed a beautiful voice but died at a very young age before knowing the fame she deserved. He proposed that student’s name, Asmahan, as a stage name for Amal, and Amal henceforth became Asmahan.<ref name="Images of Enchantment. p. 82"/>

Asmahan's rise to fame was very quick; she was not even fourteen years old when she was presented at the prestigious Cairo Opera House, in a concert setting, on the Columbia Records label,<ref name="Images of Enchantment. p. 82"/><ref>[http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exzuhasp.html Asmahan's Secrets, quoting Nimat Fuad. p. 73]</ref> and she performed songs composed by her mentors<ref>[http://www.lebarmy.gov.lb/article.asp?ln=ar&id=8358 Lebanese Army Journal, Issue Number 241, July 2005]</ref>, composers Farid Ghosn, Dawood Hussnei, [[Mohammed al-Qasabji]] and [[Zakariyya Ahmad]]. At the age of sixteen, Asmahan was solicited by Columbia Records in Egypt to register her first album which featured her first song “Ya Nar Fouadi” by Farid Ghosn. Asmahan chose to drop out of school, but she had already joined one of the most prestigious music academies in Egypt. Her mentors gave her vocal training and music lessons. With their help, she was offered a contract with Columbia Records.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 54"/>

To help support her mother and family<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 216"/>, she featured in the private celebrations of Egyptian elite and at Mary Mansour's night club alongside her brother Farid, though she hated these venues due to the demands of the audience.<ref name="Images of Enchantment. p. 82"/>

===Egypt's influence===

Asmahan's older brother, Fuad, and other Druze relatives considered a career in entertainment for a girl to be disgraceful.<ref name="Images of Enchantment. p. 82">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|1998|p=82}}</ref> It was difficult for Asmahan's relatives to imagine a daughter, niece, or cousin feeling at home in the burgeoning, heterogeneous Egyptian social scene. The clearly-defined divisions, along religious lines, of the Syrian countryside did not operate in Egypt. During two bouts of marriage to her cousin and relocation to Syria, Asmahan's musical career would come to a complete halt, and when she ultimately rejected a return to "respectability" on her relatives’ terms, by returning to Egypt and her singing career, Asmahan was reviled by her relatives and Syrian society. When her first film, “Intisar al-Shabab,” was released in Syria, one young Druze shot at the screen when the character played by Asmahan appeared.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 98">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=98}}</ref>

Asmahan sang virtually exclusively in the Egyptian Arabic dialect.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=owhg2R8Ndy8C&pg=PA240&dq=farid+druze+egyptian&lr= The Druzes in the Jewish state By Kais Firro. page 240]</ref> When Asmahan was asked to sing of cultural patriotism and love, she sang of Egypt.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=216}}</ref>

Culturally, Egypt was a planetary distance from the small villages of the Druze.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 54">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=54}}</ref> Asmahan grew so accustomed to cosmopolitan<ref>Rodenbeck, Max. Cairo: The City Victorious. Alfred Knoff Publisher. New York, 1999</ref> life in Cairo that she would long for it, and would make “spending her winters in Cairo” one of her conditions to marrying her Druze cousin.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=64}}</ref> Asmahan was regarded as "a sophisticated foreigner, a binational, or a trans-national" by her own clan<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=95}}</ref>, and when the marriage to her cousin failed, she returned immediately to Egypt, before she had divorce documents in hand.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 98"/> Asmahan's quest for her own happiness may indeed have been more strongly motivated than her patriotism to her clan.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 216">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=216}}</ref> In her final confrontation with her cousin at [[Mena House]] Hotel in Giza, she told him, "I stood with you for independence and liberation, I did. But, I was created for another purpose. I prefer the work of Farid, and the work of [[Umm Kulthum]], and of art." He would divorce her immediately, and in Egypt, she remained for the rest of her short life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=99}}</ref>{{tl|clarify}}▼

▲Culturally, Egypt was a planetary distance from the small villages of the Druze.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 54">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=54}}</ref> Asmahan grew so accustomed to cosmopolitan<ref>Rodenbeck, Max. (1999) Cairo: The City Victorious. Alfred Knoff Publisher. New York, 1999</ref> life in Cairo that she would long for it, and would make “spending her winters in Cairo” one of her conditions to marrying her Druze cousin.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=64}}</ref> Asmahan was regarded as "a sophisticated foreigner, a binational, or a trans-national" by her own clan<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=95}}</ref>, and when the marriage to her cousin failed, she returned immediately to Egypt, before she had divorce documents in hand.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 98"/> Asmahan's quest for her own happiness may indeed have been more strongly motivated than her patriotism to her clan.<ref name="Asmahan's Secrets. p. 216">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=216}}</ref> In her final confrontation with her cousin at [[Mena House]] Hotel in Giza, she told him, "I stood with you for independence and liberation, I did. But, I was created for another purpose. I prefer the work of Farid, and the work of [[Umm Kulthum]], and of art." He would divorce her immediately, and in Egypt, she remained for the rest of her short life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=99}}</ref>{{tl|clarify}}

However she always referred to her father and Sultan al Atrash to clarify her lineage. She once said to a friend questioning her about her mission during WW2: ''"Don't you know who I am? Why I am the daughter of Fahd al Atrash and cousin to the Amir al Atrash and the Druze revolutionary hero Sultan al-Atrash"''<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=37}}</ref>

==Marriages and Personal Life==

[[Image:Asmahan1.jpg|thumb|left|Picture of Asmahan]]

In 1937<ref name="weekly.ahram.org.eg">[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/933/ee2.htm Baraka, Mohamed. Al-Ahram Weekly. Issue #933. 2009-02-05.]</ref>, Asmahan's cousin, Prince [[Hassan al-Atrash]], came to Cairo and asked for her hand in marriage. So she returned with him to Syria ,<ref name="Secrets 19"> {{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=19}}</ref> at which time she was nineteen. Hassan's only condition was for Asmahan to abandon her musical career. Asmahan agreed to the marriage proposal on three conditions of her own: to live in Damascus as opposed to the Druze mountain (the Jabal); to not be forced to don the veil (hijab); and to spend her winters in Cairo.<ref name="books.google.com">[http://books.google.com/books?id=ydFpAAAAMAAJ&dq=asmahan+40000&q=40000 Steel and Silk. by Sami Moubayed. p. 523.]</ref> Hassan had acquired the title, Amir (or prince), and it was then that Egyptian press dubbed Asmahan as "The Princess of the Mountain". Asmahan lived, initially in Damascus then, foresaking her marriage conditions to support her husband's responsibilities to his people, later in the Jabal. She lived in [[As-Suwayda|Suwayda]], her family's home town,<ref name="Secrets 19"/><ref name="Colors">{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2001|p=281}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=65}}</ref> Sheand gave birth to a daughter, Camellia. However, Asmahan didn't take well to the hardships of Druze life in the Jabal, and began to despise married life.<ref name="books.google.com"/> She longed for life in Cairo and her musical career. Asmahan and Hassan divorced three years later.<ref name="weekly.ahram.org.eg"/>

In 1939<ref>Encyclopedia of the modern Middle East By Reeva S. Simon, Philip Mattar, Richard W. Bulliet, p. 245</ref>, Asmahan returned to [[Cairo]] with her daughter and resumed her singing career. For the following two years, her private life may have been too public. Jounalists wallowed in her racy conduct in Cairo, Jerusalem, and Beirut. There were alleged affairs with a succession of prominent Egyptian men, including journalist Muhammad al-Tabaʿi, banker [[Talaat Pasha Harb]], and royal aide [[Ahmed Hassanein|Ahmed Pasha Hassanein]]. Her brothers, Fuad and Farid, were no longer able to chaperone her.<ref name="Enchantment 83"/> She was, in many respects, her own worst enemy. Her habits of cigarettes, alcohol, and late nights had a deleterious effect on her voice.<ref name="ReferenceA">Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, by the Gale Group, Inc.</ref>

In 1941, Asmahan's first [[Cinema of Egypt|Egyptian film]], Intissar al-Shabab (Triumph of the Youth), was released, and in the process of making this film, she fell in love with and married the film director, Egyptian [[Ahmed Badrakhan]]. The marriage was to last only forty days due to Asmahan's family objections because Badrakhan was not Druze. Asmahan's family claimed that she had not been legally divorced from Hassan; she had not remained in Syria long enough to obtain divorce documents before returning to Egypt, although she insisted that Hassan had divorced her.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|pp=97-98}}</ref> Intissar al-Shabab and Asmahan's appearance on screen were not well received by her relatives and the Druze community in Syria. However, in the same year, Asmahan returned to Jabal-al-Druze and remarried her cousin, Hassan, arguably as a cover to espionage activity on behalf of the Allies, which did little to enhance her popularity.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> This marriage, too, was short-lived, perhaps because Asmahan wanted financial freedom. On her way back to Egypt by land, Asmahan met Egyptian film director [[Ahmed Salem]] in Jerusalem and they were married and together they returned to Egypt. By remarrying Hassan, Asmahan had regained Syrian citizenship, and it was alleged that on these grounds, the Egyptian government wished to strip her of her Egyptian citizenship<ref>[http://www.elcinema.com/person/pr1023469/biography السيرة الذاتية: أسمهان]</ref><ref>Mansel, Philip (1990) The Riddle of Asmahan, Grand Street, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 76-93</ref>, but the real reason could have been Asmahan’s earlier failed attempts to contact the Nazis or jealousy by Egyptian Queen Nazli for her lover, Ahmed Pasha Hassanein.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=cSAqAAAAYAAJ&q=asmahan+nazli&dq=asmahan+nazli al-Raida by Beirut University College. Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World. p. 44.]</ref> It was also alleged that Asmahan entered into the marriage with Salim to maintain her Egyptian citizenship.<ref>[http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=2008\05\05-23\21m25.htm&storytitle= Newspaper Article by Abdel-Fadil Taha 2008-05-23 [[Al-Quds Al-Arabi]], "وكانت رغبتها الأساسية استعادهاستعادت الجنسية المصرية"]</ref> This marriage, too, was turbulent. Two weeks before her death, a shooting incident occurred during a domestic dispute and Salim was hospitalized with a gun wound to the lung.<ref name="Enchantment 83"/>

In 1944, Asmahan featured in her second and last [[Cinema of Egypt|Egyptian film]], Gharam wa Intiqam (Love and Revenge), with Egyptian actor and director [[Youssef Wahbi]].

== Role in World War II ==

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==Death==

On 14 July 1944, a car carrying Asmahan and a female friend of hers crashed into the River [[Nile]] River after the driver lost control. Without a door on their side both ladies got stuck and drowned. Nevertheless, the driver managed to escape.

These suspicious circumstances gave rise to many rumors and much controversy. Tabloids were rife with conspiracy theories. Among those accused were British intelligence – after many reports claiming she was working with them – of getting rid of her after she handed over some military information to the Germans. The German [[Gestapo]] was also accused of killing her for helping the British.

==Legacy==

Asmahan was buried in her family’s burial plot in Egypt in accordance with her wishes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Zuhur|2000|p=165}}</ref>

Her house in Syria is located in the French Quarter of [[As-Suwayda|Swuayda]]. Years after her death, that house was seized by the Syrian government, and became – like much of the French Quarter – a property of the Syrian Army. It took the government sixty-two years to give in to the demands to turn the house into a museum for Asmahan and Farid.

The Ministry of Tourism acquired the house in September 2006, but work on it has yet to start.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

A television series in Arabic debuted in 2008 depicting her life and was shown during the month of Ramadan. Asmahan was played by Syrian actress [[Sulaf Fawakherji]].<ref>http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=16875</ref>

==References==