Early Life
Born in El-Halawat, in Al Sharqia Governorate, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt as Abdel Halim Ali Shabana, he was the fourth child of Sheikh Ali Ismail Shabana. He had two brothers, Ismail and Mohammed, and one sister, Aliah. His mother died from labour complications three days after giving birth to him - something that made people around him believe that he is a "bad luck". His father died five months later leaving him and his siblings orphaned at a young age. He lived in a poor orphanage for a period of time. Later, He was raised by his aunt and uncle in Cairo. In these years Abdel Halim was extremely poor.
Abdel Halim's 'one-of-a-kind' musical abilities first became apparent while he was in primary school and his older brother Ismail Shabana was his first music teacher. At the age of 11 he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo and became known for singing the songs of Mohammed Abdel Wahab. He graduated from the Higher Theatrical Music Institute as an oboe player
Read more about this topic: Abdel Halim Hafez
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“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
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