Halim el-Roumi (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ) (July 1919 – 1983) was a Lebanese singer and composer. Born in Tyre, Lebanon to Lebanese parents , he began his amateur artistic career in 1935, when he was in Haifa, Palestine. Later, as a radio chief first in Haifa and then in Lebanon, he discovered the singer

Fairuz Nouhad Wadie Haddad (, ; born November 20, 1934 or November 21, 1935), known as Fairuz (, ), is a Lebanese singer. She is widely considered an iconic vocalist and one of the most celebrated singers in the history of the Arab world. She is pop ...

. He composed her music, introduced her to the choir of Radio Liban and was the originator of her stage name. El-Roumi also became director of Radio libanaise. He is famous for composing the poem ''La Volonté de vivre'' (إرادة الحياة) by the Tunisian poet

Aboul-Qacem Echebbi Aboul-Qacem Echebbi (, ; (24 February 1909 – 9 October 1934) was a Tunisian poet. He is probably best known for writing the final two verses of the current National Anthem of Tunisia, '' Humat al-Hima'' (''Defenders of the Homeland''), which ...

for the Arab singer Souad Mohamed. He is the father of Majida Al Roumi.

Life

Al Roumi was born in 1915, in Tyre, South Lebanon. His family moved to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, Palestine when he was two years old. He joined the Music Academy of Haifa and participated in festivals and concerts that would take place there. In the early 1940s, he began working in the Near East Broadcasting Station in Jafa as a singer, composer, and musician. He was promoted to Head of the musical section of the radio station. In July 1949, he married Mary Lotfy, an Egyptian woman, possibly of Palestinian descent. He had four children: Maha, Mona,

Majida Majida is a village and Gram Panchayat in Purbasthali II CD block in Kalna subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in West Bengal, India. Majida village is located approximately 14.2km from the sub-district headquarters of Purbasthali. Barddham ...

, and Awadh.

Work with Fairuz

It was Al Roumi who discovered

, and introduced her to Assy El Rahbani, her future husband and one of the

Rahbani brothers Assi Rahbani (4 May 1923 – 21 June 1986) and Mansour Rahbani (1925 – 13 January 2009), known as the Rahbani brothers (), were Lebanese sibling musicians, composers, songwriters, authors, and playwrights/dramatists, best known for their work ...

. He is credited with having given Fairuz, née Nohad Haddad, her stage name.

References

20th-century Lebanese male singers Lebanese composers Lebanese people of Palestinian descent 1919 births 1983 deaths Palestine Melkite Greek Catholics Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics {{Lebanon-singer-stub