Georges Moustaki - Life

Life

His parents, Sarah and Nessim Moustaki came originally from the island of Corfu, Greece, and were Corfiot Italian Jews, but they moved to Alexandria, Egypt, where Georges learned French. They had a bookshop in the cosmopolitan city where many communities lived together.

At home, everyone spoke Italian. In the street, the children spoke Arabic. At school, young Giuseppe learned and spoke French. His parents were very attached to French culture and put him into a French school, along with his sisters.

Moustaki went to Paris in 1951 and was inspired by the young Georges Brassens. He changed his name to Georges Moustaki, in honor of him.

Moustaki sang songs in French, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, English and Arabic.

He married at twenty and has a large family in France, Israel, Brazil and Venezuela.

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