Mohamed Fawzi (musician)
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Mohamed Fawzi محمد فوزى Egyptian music | |
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Occupation(s) |
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Mohamed Fawzi (
Early life and studies
He was born in the village of Kafr Abou Gendi, a neighborhood of Qutour in the Gharbia Governorate. He was the twenty-first child out of twenty-five sons and daughters, the latter including singers Huda Sultan and Hend Allam.[2] He was an Oud player at a very young age.[3] His sister was the renowned actress and singer Huda Sultan.[4] Fawzi attended elementary school in Tanta, Egypt, where he was a quick study on music with his father's friend, firefighter Mahmoud El Kharbaty, serving as initial tutor. El Kharbaty brought Fawzi along to sing at birthdays, nights, and weddings, where he was influenced by the songs of Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Umm Kulthum.
After graduating from
Career
Arriving in Cairo in 1938, he at first made ends meet working in theatre companies and nightclubs, including those of Badia Masabni and Fatima Rushdi, and then the "Egyptian National Theatre" where his path to fame started to kick.
Fascinated by
Fawzi wrote many songs for himself to sing in his films. He also composed for other singers of his time, including Mohamed Abd El Mottaleb, Leila Mourad, Nazik, Huda Sultan, and Nagah Salam.
National anthem
In 1956, two Algerian officials went to Egypt and met him at the headquarters of the Voice of the Arabs radio station, a Pan-Arabist radio station founded under the rule of Egypt's former president Gamal Abd El Nasser, to commission the Algerian anthem. When the head of the music office department, Mohamed Aboul Fotouh, remarked that a "light music" composer was unsuited to writing a national anthem, Fawzi rose to the challenge and wrote the one still in use.[2]
Business interests
In 1958, Fawzi founded his own label, Sono Cairo. Their price of 35
The nationalization destroyed him. After he put his all into the company, his role in it began to shrink, until the promise of a monthly salary of one hundred pounds and a head office of his own yielded to the reality that his office was in a tea and coffee buffet.[2]
Filmography
At 36 films (in addition to a cameo in Layali Al-Qahira in 1939), he is likely the most prolific male singing star of the age[according to whom?]. He sang other composers' material in some of his films, including in Qabelni Ya Abi, Nargis, Thawrat El-Madinah, and Leila, Bint El-Shatie, while Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Farid al-Atrash wrote all their own music.
Actor
Producer
Fawzi produced a number of films between 1947 and 1959, all of which starred him except for Fatawat el Husseinia and The Absent Lady. Year Film(s)
Year | Title |
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1947 | The Mind Is On Vacation |
1948 | Hub Wa Junun |
The Spirit and the Body | |
1949 | Al-Majnuna |
Fatma wa Marika wa Rachel | |
Owner of Piasters | |
1950 | Gharam Raqisa |
Miss Mama | |
1951 | Nehayet Qessa |
Ward El-Gharam | |
1952 | Men Ayna Laka Haza |
1953 | Fa'el Kheir |
1954 | Fatawat el Husseinia |
Always with You | |
Banat Hawa | |
1955 | The Absent Lady |
1956 | Maejazat Al-Sama |
1959 | Every Beat of My Heart |
Family
Fawzi is the brother of actress and singer Huda Sultan and singer Hend Allam.
In 1943, Fawzi married his first wife, Mrs. Hedaya, with whom he had three children: engineer Nabil (born in 1944), engineer Samir (born in 1946), and doctor Mounir (born in 1948). They divorced in 1952, after which he married actress Madiha Yousri and had a son named Amr in 1955 and one other son with her. In 1959, he divorced again and married his third wife, Karima, with whom he had his youngest daughter Iman in 1961. They remained together until his death.
Death and legacy
He had established the first record label in the Middle East, including an in-house recording studio. The nationalization of the label was perhaps the greatest shock of his life, and his health deteriorated from there on as international doctors struggled to diagnose him. He traveled to London in early 1965, returned to Egypt, and traveled to Germany two months later, but the German hospital noted the difficulty treating something only five people in the world had so far that brought him down to 36 kilograms (79 lb). Nowadays known as idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis, the German doctor labeled it Fawzi's disease. It claimed his life on October 20, 1966.
He wrote around 400 songs, about 300 of which were featured in films. Among the highlights are "Habibi Wa Aynaneh", "Shahat El Gharam", "Tamali Fi Qalbi", "Wahshuna Al Habayeb", "I Love the One Who Loves You", and "Mal Elkamar". His children's songs have endured, including "Mama Zamanha Gaya" and "Zahab Al-Layl." Thematic and seasonal novelties include the patriotic song "Balady Habibty", the Ramadan favorite "Bring the Lanterns, Boys", and "It's You, Mother", a popular Mother's Day dedication. Ya Mustafa became a pan-European hit when it was covered by French-Egyptian singer Bob Azzam.
References
- ^ El-Dahabi, Hiyam (November 14, 2002). "محمد فوزي مات بمرض غامض أصاب خمسة أشخاص فقط في العالم". Al Riyadh. No. 12564. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ a b c "محمد فوزي.. صانع البهجة في السينما الغنائية". Al Jazeera. February 25, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ Remembering Mohamed Fawzi; Egyptian Singer, actor and joy maker
- ^ Leading Egyptian actress dies, Al Jazeera, 2006, retrieved September 21, 2017
External links
- Lyrics in Arabic at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived December 6, 2005)
- MP3 version of Kassaman
- The musical score, the text in arabic and french, on the Presidency's Website
- Watch the Algerian Anthem, with Arabic lyrics and war pictures archives on YouTube
- Mohamed Fawzi at IMDb
- El Cinema page
- MusicBrainz page
- Discogs page
- Sama3y page
- National Library of France page