Umm Kulthum, also known as Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, was an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress who was born on December 31, 1898. She was given the honorary title “Kawkab el-charq” (‘Oriental Star’). She is considered a national figure in Egypt and has been dubbed “The Voice of Egypt,” “Lady of Arabic Song,” and “Egypt’s Fourth Pyramid.
During her early career years, she faced staunch competition from two prominent singers: Mounira El Mahdeya and Fathiyya Ahmad, who had similar voices. El Mahdeya’s friend, who worked as an editor at Al-Masra, several times suggested that Umm Kulthum must have married one of the guests who frequently visited her household, to the extent that her father decided to return to the village they came from together with his family.
Umm Kulthum siblings: Who are Umm Kulthum siblings?
Umm Kulthum was born in the village of Tamay e-Zahayra, belonging to the city of Senbellawein, Dakahlia Governorate, in the Nile Delta to a family with a religious background as her father Ibrahim El-Sayyid El-Beltagi was an imam from the Egyptian countryside, her mother was Fatmah El-Maleegi, a housewife.
She has two siblings according to our sources. A sister named Sayyida who was ten years her senior and a brother named Khalid who was one year her junior.