Roza Eskenázi

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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 e

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