Georges Mustaki
On Thursday, May 23rd, greek singer Georges Mustaki left his last breath in Nice, France, after years of health problems.
As a tribute to the cosmopolitan singer a small tribute to his life.
He was born in Alexandria, Egypt on May 3, 1934, to parents of Greek Sephardic Jews, Nessim and Sara from Corfu, with roots from M. Asia, Ioannina and Zakynthos.
In Alexandria his family had a bookstore and came into contact with many cultures.
At that time Alexandria was a cosmopolitan language bazaar and the Greeks of Egypt spoke from two to five languages. At Georges’ house, they spoke Italian, on the Arabic route, and he and his brothers attended a French School.
His real name was Youssef though, in 1951 when he went to Paris he was so impressed by the French singer Georges Brassen that he changed his name to Georges.
She married at the age of 20 and created a large family.
He wrote over 300 songs and sang in many languages Italian, French, Greek, Portuguese, English and Arabic.
His songs were sang by Edith Piaf – Delilah – Brigitte Fontaine – Herbert Pagani etc.
In 1960 he translated into French and sang songs by M. Hatzidakis, which became great successes such as Metikos, the Mediterranean, etc.
He never renounced his Greek roots and even said that he was sensitive to what the Ptolemys sowed in his hometown.
By Nana Latsi