Asmahan

Asmahan was born Amal al-Atrash in 1912, daughter of Prince Fahd al-Atrash of Suwayda and Alia al-Mundhir, a Druse noblewoman of Hasbaya. Like her brother Farid, she came of age in Egypt after the family fled the French occupation of Syria.

Gifted with an unusually wide and supple voice, she trained in the classical Arabic tradition and brought to it a European-influenced elegance. In the cafés, concert halls, and cinemas of 1930s and 40s Cairo she became a sensation — spoken of in the same breath as the very greatest singers of the age.

She also starred in landmark musical films, her performances pairing a luminous screen presence with a voice that could move effortlessly from delicate ornament to soaring power.

Asmahan's life was cut short in 1944, when she died in an accident at just thirty-two. Yet in only a handful of years she left a body of recordings that remain treasured classics — a Druse woman who became one of the immortal voices of Arabic song.