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SPEAKER_02: Hello. From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Encyclopedia Womanika. Today's hometown hero is a household name in Egypt. She was known around the world for her powerful singing voice and her larger-than-life demeanor. She was a diva, a national icon, and was even known as Egypt's fourth pyramid. Please welcome Um Kulthum. Um was born in a small village called Tamini al-Zahaira in the Nile Delta. Sources disagree about her birth date. Some say she was born in 1898, while others place her birth in 1904. What we know for sure is that Um started singing soon thereafter. She first learned by listening in while her father, an imam, taught her older brother how to sing. It didn't take long before her father realized the power of Um's voice. Um's father took her to wedding and holiday events, where they sang traditional religious songs. At the time, singing was not a very reputable occupation, especially for women. So wherever Um went to sing, her father dressed her up as a boy. In the meantime, Um also attended a khattab, or a Quran school, for most of her education. She learned rudimentary reading and writing skills there, but singing was Um's true calling. By the time she was a teenager, she'd made a name for herself singing in the Egyptian Delta. And in 1923, her family packed up and moved to Cairo to pursue her singing career. Once they got to the city, however, Um and her family found themselves out of place. Other people found them old-fashioned compared to the modern, populous city, and Um had few contacts to help her find her way. Um's singing was also critiqued. Although she had a uniquely strong voice, she was untrained. Her repertoire and style were seen as too traditional for 1920s Cairo. But Um was determined. She studied music and poetry from accomplished performers and hired all new instrumentalists for her band. When she performed, she mimicked the manners and gestures of the wealthy ladies in the audience. She also learned new love songs to modernize her portfolio. By the mid-1920s, Um had successfully updated her style. She recorded her first songs and quickly gained fame. By the end of the decade, she was one of the best-paid musicians in Cairo and made regular appearances on film and radio. She used radio to connect with her audience on an individual level, which gained her immense popularity. ["Uma El-Makkaba"] In the 1930s, Um's career was so successful that she took over all her own productions and contract negotiations. In 1936, she made the first of six motion pictures in which she played the title role. In 1937, Um began giving live radio performances on the first Thursday of every month. These monthly concerts became a staple in Egyptian popular culture and made Um even more of a fixture in Egyptian homes. As Um's popularity grew, her unique singing and style became more emblematic. She performed more and more popular tunes, further endearing herself to the public by singing in a colloquial dialect. She was known for delivering deeply emotional renditions of songs written by the best composers of the day. Her voice was so powerful that she stood nearly a yard away from the microphone while singing. She also had a signature look. Um always carried around a trademark scarf in her left hand, which she would ring and toss during performances. And she frequently donned a pair of diamond-studded, cat-eyed sunglasses. The 1940s and 50s are regarded as Um's golden age. During this time, she actively worked to establish her identity as a patriotic Egyptian and devout Muslim, especially during the 1952 revolution. She supported Gamal Abdel Nasser and continually supported the Egyptian military via her songs and monetary contributions. As a show of her national pride, she reworked her repertoire to showcase traditional Egyptian musical styles. One of her songs was even adopted as the Egyptian national anthem from 1960 to 1979. Um also served in official capacities as the president of the Musicians Union and as a member of the listening committee. In these positions, she helped select which music was deemed appropriate for radio broadcasting. In the late 40s, Um ran into a series of personal problems that forced her to take her first-ever break from the spotlight. She developed a thyroid problem that endangered her singing, a tragedy that was soon followed by the deaths of her mother and brother. Um fell into a deep depression. At the same time, Um was also at the center of a media frenzy over her love life. Um had never married or publicly announced a romantic relationship. Rumors abounded that Um was too cold a person to be in love or that she'd been disappointed by love early on. She had allegedly been proposed to by King Farouq's uncle but was deemed unfit to marry him by the royal family. In the early 50s, Um married and divorced a man within days. Eventually, in 1954, she married one of her doctors. Um resumed her entertainment schedule in 1955. She embarked on a media tour where she spoke more openly about her personal life and her past, especially her rural roots. She also advocated for government support of Arabic music. In 1967, after Egypt was defeated in the Six-Day War, Um toured Egypt and neighboring countries. She gave concerts and met with important leaders, toured cultural monuments, and took on the typical activities of a state visit. She donated all her proceeds to the Egyptian government. Throughout her life, Um continued to suffer from ill health. In December of 1972, she felt faint midway through a concert. Though she finished the set, it would be her last. In 1975, Um fell gravely ill. A vigil took place outside of her house in Egypt's main newspaper, Al-Ahram, published daily updates on her health. When Um died in February of 1975, the streets of Cairo were filled with four million admirers. For decades after her death, Um remained one of the world's best-selling singers. In 2001, the Egyptian government established the Kaqab Al-Shark Museum in Cairo, which celebrates Um's life. It's named after Um's honorary nickname, Star of the East. To this day, Egyptian radio plays Um's music at 10 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. All month, we're talking about local legends. For more on why we're doing what we're doing, check out our newsletter, Womanaka Weekly. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Encyclopedia Womanaka. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. As always, we'll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday.
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