Biography: Roza Eskenazy 1883-1980

Born Sarah Skenazi in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Roza Eskenazi was of Sephardi Jewish origin. When she was about seven years old, her family moved to Thessaloniki, where her parents earned a living doing a variety of menial jobs.

In her teens Rosa began performing with two Armenian cabaret dancers named Seramous and Zabel, who reportedly liked her because she could speak their language, Turkish, and had talent as a singer.

Eskenazi moved to Piraeus in 1910. She continued to perform as a dancer but also sang songs in Greek, Turkish, and Armenian for cabaret patrons.

In 1929, she was discovered by Panagiotis Tountas, a well-known composer and record producer with whom she made her first recordings.

She soon became famous, and by the mid 1930s, she had recorded more than 500 folk music and rebetiko songs, as well as songs from Smyrna (?zmir).

 

From its beginning, her lengthy career was associated with rebetiko music. Although she sang all types of songs, the beginning of her career signifies the rebetiko music’s breakthrough, forever associating her voice with the genre.

Eskenazi is considered a model for other singers because of her personal style, technique and passion.

Unfortunately, the censorship of one of her songs «When You take Heroin by Ioannis Metaxas lead to a marginalization of other midwar rebetiko singers but opened the way to the school of Vassilis Tsitsanis.

Before World War II, Eskenazi travelled as a singer in the Balkans, Turkey and Middle East. After the war, she toured the United States and Turkey.

In the 1970s, Eskenazi became famous once again as a result of the rebetiko revival. She died in Athens on 2 December 1980, aged 90.

In 1982, a short memoir, assembled from interviews with Eskenazi late in her life, was published under the title The Things I Remember. The book includes a large number of photographs of the artist at the height of her career.

Roza
Roza Eskenazi, arguably the greatest and most renowned Greek Diva, was born in Constantinople and named Sarah Skinazi.

Roza’s 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. It seems evident that Roza was being economical with the truth as, when asked her age, she says «I was born in 1910, how old am I now?» to which Lefteris Papadopoulos (the interviewer) responds «you are 62»! Roza appears to have deliberately concealed her age and had probably done so since the 1920’s.

Some believe that Roza was born between 1890 – 1900, while others, such as the musicologist Panayiotis Kounadis, believe that 1883 – 1887 is more likely. Kounadis based his view on the recollections of Mihalis Semsi, son of the virtuoso violinist Dimitris Semsi, who believed that there was a 2 – 3 year difference in the age of his father and Roza.

Nicholas Pappas kindly contacted me with interesting facts in this context (with thanks). Nicholas has a Greek travel document issued to Roza’s mother on 20 June 1925 (in Salonika) for travel to and from Constantinople. The name it bears is ‘Vida Abram Jacob Eskenatzi’. Vida is described as being 57 years old in 1925 – i.e. born in 1868. Assuming she had married at 14 or 15 (as was common then), she is most likely to have bore children between the years 1884-1908 (approx). Roza was not the first or the last child (her brother Nisim looks 4 to 5 years older – see photo below), so Roza must have been born, I would estimate, some time between 1888, at the very earliest, and 1905, at the very latest.

In considering the photos and television footage of Roza vigorously performing (singing and dancing) circa 1975 – 1977, I do not believe we are looking at a 94 year old woman (that is approximately how old she would have been had she been born in 1883)! I personally feel that she was probably in her late 70s or early 80s at that time, but no older, so feel it most likely she was born around 1895, but Roza’s date of birth is a mystery that is unlikely to be satisfactorily solved.

Roza’s family
This photo shows Roza with her father and mother, her older brother Nisim, and younger brother Sami. Roza also had one sister (name unknown). I don’t know why Roza’s sister is absent from the photo. Perhaps she had passed away at a young age, or was not yet born. By 1972, Roza had outlived all of her siblings.

Roza was a Sephardic Jew. Her father Avraam or Abraham Skinazi, had a storage facility in Constantinople, and was paid to store goods for people, most often for those leaving the country for a long period of time. Of Roza’s mother, ‘Vida’, I can find few documented facts, other than she does not seem to have used the name ‘Vida’ in Greece, and was called (or nicknamed) ‘Flora’, and that she travelled from Salonika to Constantinople at some point after 20 June 1925 (for reasons unknown – perhaps to visit family?), returning to Greece on 6 March 1926. I find it interesting that Vida made such journeys shortly after the exchange of populations in 1922.

Move to Greece

Roza moved with her family to Thessaloniki when she was about 7 years old. Roza had only spoken Turkish up till this point, but she quickly learnt Greek. The family rented a small room in a lodging house. Roza never attended school, but she learned how to read and write from another female tenant who looked after her whilst her parents were working during the day at a cotton plantation.

Roza’s father, Abraham became a professional money lender/Changer at some point after moving to Greece.

Roza’s early years and career
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 recalls in her autobiography that around this time, she was doing housework in their rented accommodation and singing when some men who owned a nearby tavern passed outside the house and stopped to listen when they heard her. They knocked on the door and asked Roza’s mother if she would allow Roza to sing at the tavern. Roza says that her Mother threw the men out as she did not at all want Roza to pursue that career, neither did anyone from her family.

Although Roza had a very poor memory in her later life, the strong impact of this event seared into her memory, as she recollects this event vividly when interviewed in 1972, she says «as if it just happened now». This is the first indication of the effect of her singing voice on listeners, as well as her family’s deep resistance to her becoming a singer. Roza says that she was determined to become a singer from that point, but as she was scared of her mother, she didn’t discuss it with her. Roza also notes that it was felt shameful in those days for a woman to become a singer, that it led to bad reputations and malicious gossip, and such artists left and kept away from their families. Despite all that, Roza remained sure that was what she wanted to do. This reflects Roza’s strong independent streak. She was not frightened to make choices that were unconventional or that might attract condemnation from her family or wider society.

Roza and her mother returned to Thessaloniki where they lived in a house shared with women who danced and worked at a theatre called «Grand Hotel» (the artists lived in apartments above Roza’s). Roza took the ladies clothes to and from the theatre and became very much attracted to 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 and sang. Roza received a beating when her mother found out, and she subsequently stopped performing and going to the «Grand Hotel» with her friends. Roza’s parents remained determined that she would not become an artist, but Roza was so passionate and sure of what she wanted that, despite being frightened, she could not be dissuaded.

Roza’s family moved back to Athens. There the family lived happily until Roza plucked up the strength to tell her parents that she wanted to perform, and tried to persuade them that she would earn good money to help the family financially. Their response is unrecorded. I would think Roza most probably left home and turned her back on her family at around this point in time, as she describes other female artists of that era doing.

Roza’s activities from around 1910 – 1928 are not known. Roza said that she started performing when she was 15. We do know that around 1910, Roza began to work with an Armenian troupe in Piraeus. This probably marks the time she broke away from her family in Athens. The Armenian troupe was run by Saramous and Zabel and Roza performed in Theatres and Taverns. Roza initially mainly danced, but some time afterwards she also started singing in Greek, Turkish, and Armenian, to great acclaim.

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.

Roza states that she did not work in ‘tekes’ (hashish dens), «Cafe-Amans» (a cafe where singers would improvise songs then gather money from the clientele) 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 are no documented facts, a still of Roza from circa.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 she 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 Panayiotis 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), Lambros Leonaridhis (expert kemence/Turkish Lyra player) and Lambros Savaidis (Kanonaki). Roza and her associates were an outstanding success, and they played at the tavern for over a decade (in addition to touring in Serbia, Egypt, Turkey and Albania). It’s interesting that Roza says the customers in taverns did not dance (there was no dancefloor), eat, or break plates. They went to listen to the music and drink. She also says that she did not notice if people were smoking in the taverns.

Photo: Lambros – Lyra; Roza; and Agapios Tomboulis – Oud).

Roza became the highest paid artiste of the time. She excelled at and mastered many styles – smyrneika, rembetika, amanedes, demotic (folk) songs and recorded over 500 songs in the 1930s – a record for a Greek singer for that decade.

Roza collaborated with all the leading figures in rembetic music before and after World War II, from both the Smyrnaic school of rembetika, and the Pireaus school. Roza was multi-lingual and sang in Greek, Turkish, Arabian, Jewish, Italian, Ladino (aka Judeo-Spanish or Djudezmo) and Armenian.

Roza 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 the lyrics, with the song often listed as an old traditional song by unknown composer/lyricist

Roza’s Marriage
In the 1930s, Roza married Gianko Sarntinidi, who was a successful 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.
It also appears that, with fame and fortune, Roza established or maintained some form of contact with her family. There is a photo of Roza with her mother (and another unknown person) which was probably taken in the late 1930s (see below). It is an odd photo, with Roza sitting in a tree, separate from and looking away from her mother. 

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 exceptionally 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’s partner
Roza met her longtime companion Christos Philipakopoulos around 1947 in Patra, where he heard her singing. Christos was a truck driver, and some 25 or so years younger than Roza. They remained together until Roza’s death. I understand that Christos remained married to another lady throughout his longtime ‘affair’ with Roza (many thanks to ‘Rembetiko.gr’ for the information on Christos). This seems another example of Roza’s independent streak and her not limiting her lifestyle choices to the expectations or norms of mainstream Greek society.

Artists Guild
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 (during the 1954 trip to Turkey, she earned approximately 5,000 dollars from the recordings for the ‘Balkan’ record company alone).

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 with Christos Philipakopoulos.

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.

Baptism

In the notes to the excellent Heritage cd on Roza (HT CD 35), Charles Howard states that, through Christos Philipakopoulos, Roza was baptised «Rozalia» in Kipoupouli in 1976.

I find it very odd that Roza was baptised so late in life – some 4 years before her death. Certainly, her marriage to Gianko Sarntinidi in the 1930’s would not have been legally recognised in Greece at that time if she were not baptized as a Christian beforehand.

1970s – Revival of rembetika

With the revival of rembetika music in the 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 around 80 years old, Roza performed live, singing and dancing in concerts and on Television.

On one TV appearance in 1975, Roza met with Haris Alexiou, a modern Greek singer 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’s death
Roza stopped singing publicly around the late 1970s, and died at home in Kipoupouli on 2nd December 1980. Roza was buried at Stomio (called Stomi by the locals) on the Gulf of Corinth. Roza had never lived in Stomio, but her longtime partner, Christos Philipakopoulos was from there, and it was he who arranged for the burial.

Sadly, Roza’s grave lay unmarked for some 28 years. Happily, the good people at Rembetiko.gr report that is no longer the case. At some point in 2008, a cross with picture and name was added under the initiative of «Aeolos» – the Stomion Culture Association. A small musical happening was performed on the occasion. I am very pleased that this wrong has been righted. The pictures below show Roza’s grave is set in beautiful and tranquil surroundings.

Roza left her house to Christos’ children, but they died before Christos himself. Christos is buried in Roza’s grave, which was his wish, but his name is not recorded on the tombstone. This may possibly be because of local sensitivity around the fact that his widow is alive. [Many thanks to Rembetiko.gr for the information and for the photos above].

Roza’s legacy

Roza possessed a sweet soprano voice with incredible range, power and control. Her poignant voice has a particularly haunting quality on the Smyrnaic songs, and the more bluesy songs, such as the amanedhes. Her recordings are wholly inimitable, and without peer. The vulnerability in Roza’s voice is communicated directly to the listener via her interpretations of the lyrics – a quality shared with other great artists of the last century, such as Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday.

With Cds continuing to be issued both by Greek companies and UK/US companies, with postings on sites such as ‘you tube’, and the increased availability of Roza’s material on MP3 around the World, Roza’s unique and exceptional musical legacy will be appreciated by new generations, and in this way, she will live on.

Fuente: The Roza Eskenazi Homepage/Wikipedia