Farid El-Atrash

Farid Al Atrache was born in Jebel Ed-Druz, Southern Syria in 1915. His parents were Prince Fahad Al Atrache and Princess Alia. In 1923, Prince Fahad and the Al Atrache clan were fighting against the French occupation of their land and as a result, Princess Alia had to flee to Egypt with her three young children Fouad, Farid and Amal. Their journey was diffcult where they travelled from Beirut through Palestine and finally Egypt without any personal documents. The Egyptian government granted them permission to stay, and the family settled at one of Cairo's popular districts where they lived in a one room flat after being accustomed to living in luxurious palaces. The mother had to work as a singer at private parties,and weddings in order to support her children who also took jobs while they went to school. Farid and his young sister Amal were interested in their mother's love of music, so she encouraged them to sing and taught her son how to play the oud. In their early youths, Farid and Amal (who later became Asmahane), began to draw the attention of composers and song writers who were amazed by their musical talents and beautiful voices, and eventually the duo were singing at radio stations and in front of wide audiences. The cinema was also the gateway to success and glory for Farid and Asmahane as they starred in two films. Once again tragedy struck Farid, his sister Asmahane was killed in a car accident and there were rumors that she was involved with the British intelligence. Farid continued to sing and compose until one day he met Samia Gamal, a lovely belly dancer who captured his heart, and together they created a duo starring in several musical films from the late 1940s and the early 1950s. However, their relationship didn't last because Samia married an American man who embraced Islam and they both travelled to the U.S, and again Farid was lonely and sad but he still loved Samia. His next films and songs contained feelings of love and anguish in addition to patriotism. He spent his last years in Lebanon while he made frequent visits to Egypt, Arab countries and Europe. He died in Beirut on December 26, 1974 and that was before attending the premiere of his last film with actress Mervat Amin "Nagahm fi Hayati".