Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, also known as Fima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Belt, was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and actress who was active from the 1920s until the 1970s. She was born on December 31, 1898, in Cairo. The appellation “Kawkab el-charq” (‘Star of the Orient’) was bestowed upon her.
In her home Egypt, she is revered as a national hero and is known as “The Voice of Egypt,” the “Lady of Arabic Song,” and “Egypt’s Fourth Pyramid.”
Is Umm Kulthum dead?
Yes, before she could complete and perform her two songs, “Awkaty btehlaw ma’aak wa hyaty btekmal b’redak,” and another song she asked the poet Saleh Goudet to write for her to sing to commemorate the victory of Egypt in the October War (also known as the Yom kippur War) against Israel, Umm Kulthum passed away on February 3, 1975, at the age of 76 from kidney failure.
On the second anniversary of the conflict, she passed away before she could execute it. Around 4 million Egyptians lined the streets to see her burial cortège as it passed, making it a national event. It was held at the Omar Makram mosque.
