Roza Eskenázi Ρόζα Εσκενάζυ, arguably the greatest and most renowned Greek Diva, was born in Constantinople and named Sarah Skinazi. Roza's exact date of birth is not known. In her autobiography "Auta Pou Thimame" ("What I Remember") she states she was born in 1910. The autobiography, published in 1982, is derived from interviews Roza gave in 1972. Apart from being forgetful by then, Roza appears to have deliberately concealed her age (she probably had done so since the 1920's). Some, like the musicologist Panayiotis Kounadis, believe that Roza was born between 1883 - 1887, whilst others state she was born between 1890 - 1900. Roza was a Sephardic Jew. Her father Avraam or Abraham Skinazi, had a storage facility and was paid to store goods for people, most often for those leaving the country for a long period of time. Of Flora, Roza's mother, I can find no documented facts. Roza had 1 sister (name unknown) and 2 brothers, Sami and Nisim. By 1972, Roza had outlived all her siblings. Move to Greece Roza moved with her family to Thessaloniki when she was about 7 years old. They rented a small room in a lodging house. Roza never attended school, but she learned how to read and write from another kindly female tenant whilst her parents were working during the day at a cotton plantation. Roza had only spoken Turkish up till this point, but she quickly learnt Greek. Roza's father, Abraham became a professional money lender/Changer at some point after moving to Greece. Roza's early years are documented very poorly. In her autobiography, Roza states that the family moved to Komotini, but she could not remember how long she stayed there. It is interesting that her father Abraham stayed in Thessaloniki during this period, but it is unclear whether this was for economic or domestic reasons. Roza and her mother returned to Thessaloniki where they lived in a house shared with ladies who danced and worked at a beautiful theatre called "Grand Hotel" (the artists lived in apartments above Roza's). Roza took the ladies clothes to and from the theatre and became bewitched by the theatrical world. She wanted desperately to be an artist and would practice at home in front of a mirror. Eventually, Roza one day took to the stage of the "Grand Hotel" and danced. Roza received a beating when her mother found out. Roza's family were determined that she would not become an artist. Roza was so passionate and sure of what she wanted that, despite being frightened, she could not be disuaded. How this conflict with her family was resolved is not recorded. Around 1910 Roza began to work with an Armenian troupe in Piraeus (possibly to get away from her family?). The troupe was run by Saramous and Zabel and Roza performed at Theaters and Taverns. Roza initially mainly danced, but shortly therafter she also started singing in Greek, Turkish, and Armenian. At some point early in her career, her first name of Sarah was dropped and Roza (or Rozitsa) adopted. This may have been because Roza's family did not approve whatsoever of her career choice? However, the date and reason for change is not documented. In her autobiography, Roza states that she did not work in "Cafe-Amans" (a cafe where singers would improvise songs) or "Cafe-Satans" (cabarets). She infers that these places were disreputable. However, it is likely that Roza did indeed work in Cabarets, as, although there is little documented facts, a still of Roza from 1915 appears to be of a typical Cabaret singer (this may also be part of the explanation of what Roza was doing during the years that Roza tried to keep hidden by changing her age so drastically). 1929 - First recordings, fame and success In the late 1920s Roza was performing at an open-air Taverna called TSITSIFIES near Piraeus, both singing and dancing. One night Panayiotas Toundas, a legendary Greek rembetic composer/lyricist/arranger (and then director of ODEON records) visited TSITSIFIES and noted her exceptional talent and the wondrous reception Roza got from the audience. In the ensuing discussion, Roza thought that that Toundas was trying to pick her up, and was rude to him! Subsequently, Toundas arranged a recording session and Roza made her first records in late September 1929. Roza scored an immediate success with the public and started recording prolifically. Roza started working in TAIYETOS - a tavern on Dorou Street with Dimitris Semsis (known as Salonikios) - virtuoso violinist, composer, lyricist, arranger and recording director; Agapios Toumboulis (master of the Oud) and Lambros Leonaridhis (expert kemence/Turkish Lyra player). Roza and her associates were an outstanding success, and they played at the tavern for over a decade (in addition to touring etc). Roza became the highest paid artiste of the time. She sang smyrneika, rembetika, amanedes, demotic (folk) songs and recorded over 500 songs in the 1930s - a record for a Greek singer for that decade. Roza colloborated with all the leading figures in rembetika music before and after World War II (for information please see the page on Roza's contemporaries). Roza was multi-lingual and sang in Greek, Turkish, Arabian, Jewish, Italian, Ladino (aka Judeo-Spanish or Djudezmo) and Armenian. Before the outbreak of World War II, Roza toured the Balkans and Near East and recorded for HMV in Constantinople in 1937. Despite not having any formal musical training, Roza also composed and wrote lyrics - including the words/music to one of her most famous songs "To Kanarini" ("The Canary") which she recorded on 21 July 1934 (although the music was derived from a Turkish tune called "Bul Bul"). Roza's "kanarini" has to this day been recorded countless times, but roza rarely receives credit for it with the song often listed as an old traditional song by unknown composer/lyricist In the 1930s, Roza married Gianko Sarntinidi, who was a succesful actor and supposedly older than Roza. Unfortunately, he was a very heavy drinker and sadly died whilst Roza was pregnant with their son. Roza stated in 1972 that she had three grandchildren from their one son. I do not know if Roza has any surviving descendants, but it is more than likely that she does. Nazi occupation of Greece Roza ran a restaurant in Satovriandhou Street in Athens during the Nazi occupation and was renowned for the generous help she gave people in those difficult years. She risked her own life in the process of helping others. One must keep in mind that Roza represented everything the fascist Nazi's detested - i.e. she was a successful Jewish artist and businesswoman. Roza met her longtime companion Christos Philipakopoulos in 1947. they remained together until Roza's death. Roza was an active member of the Musicians Guild (the offices were in Agion Konstantino). Roza recommended the Guild to new and upcoming artists. Additionally, Roza was instrumental in helping to bring legendary artists such as Marika Ninou and Stella Haskil to the attention of Athenians. Touring USA and Constantinople Roza worked, toured and recorded again after the war. She visited the USA twice in the 1950s (one visit lasted 9 months) and performed in Chicago, New York and Detroit. Roza also returned to Constantinople in the 1950s. Roza recorded songs in USA and Turkey on these trips, and had great success both touring and with massive sales of records. In the late 1950s, Roza returned to Athens and purchased a large house in Kipoupoli, Peristeri (where she lived for the remaining years of her life). Roza recorded 45RPMs for RCA in the early to mid sixties, both re-workings of songs she had recorded in the 1930s, and new songs. 1970s - Revival of rembetika With the revival of rembetica music in the early to mid 1970s, Roza's legacy was brought to the attention of a new generation, and she was in demand once again. It is amazing that, despite being between 75 - 85 years old, Roza performed live, singing and dancing in concerts and appeared on Television. On one TV appearance in 1975, Roza met with Haris Alexiou, a modern Greek diva who had some of Roza's songs in her repertoire. Roza sang "Hariklaki" and "Dimitroulla" although her voice was - understandably - much coarser since her heyday. Roza stopped singing publically around the late 1970s, and died at home on 2nd December 1980. Roza was buried at Stomio on the Gulf of Corinth. Very sadly, for someone who gave so much of her talent to the World and was loved by people of all nationalities, Roza's grave is not marked. Roza possessed a sweet soprano voice with incredible range, power and control. Her poignant voice has a particularly haunting quality on the more bluesy songs. The vulnerability in her voice is communicated directly to the listener via her interpretations of the lyrics - a quality shared with Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday. With Cds continuing to be issued both by Greek companies and UK/US companies, Roza's unique and exceptional musical legacy will be appreciated by new generations, and in this way, she will live on.