Salima Mourad or Salima Murad (; 2 February 1900 – 28 January 1974) was an
Iraqi Jewish singer who was well-known and highly respected in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
.
She was given the nickname "
Pasha
Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...
" by the Iraqi Prime Minister
Nuri al-Said.
Salima was dubbed by
Umm Kulthum
Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...
as the most famous woman singer, since the early 1930s. She was also the wife of a very successful Iraqi singer and actor,
Nazem Al-Ghazali. Even after the bulk of Iraqi Jews left Iraq, Salima continued to live there until her death in 1974.
Despite the popularity of her music in the Arab world, her music only ever had a small following in Israel.
References
External links
Jewish Role in Iraqi Music
1900 births
1974 deaths
Musicians from Baghdad
Iraqi Jews
20th-century Iraqi women singers
Jewish singers
Converts to Islam from Judaism
{{Iraq-singer-stub