Nagat El-Sagheera (or El Saghirah, ; born Nagat Mohammad Kamal Hosni [], 11 August 1938) is an Egyptian former singer and actress. She retired from filming in 1976 and from singing in 2002. Nagat began her career at the age of five and retired 59 years later., Bio Article by Nasser Zarif Shafik (in Arabic)., Nagat El Saghira (Retirement news in English). Al Bawaba publication is based in Jordon with office in UAE, 2002/11/05: "Nagat El Saghira makes her last bow off stage with no regrets", Al Bawaba Middle East Limited, The Plenary, 4th Floor, 74 Abdel Hamid Sharaf Street, P.O. Box 142460, Amman 11844, Jordan., Institute for Palestine Studies, 3501 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007, United States, Volume 32, 2002/03, No.3: "Liberating Songs: Palestine Put to Music”, by Joseph Massad. This article lists, under “Revolutionary Egypt”, Nagat El-Saghira as one of the most important artists.
Nagat's works are a part of Egyptian music from the "golden age" of the 1940s–1960s. She still inspires other Arab artists., The New York Times, "Arabic Music's Modern Voice" by Tara Mulholland 12 April 2012.
Early life Nagat El Sagheera was born in Cairo on 11 August 1938, the daughter of prominent Egyptian Arabic calligrapher of Kurdish origin Mohammad Hosni, and an Egyptian mother. Her father was married twice., 2015/06/24: Article on Mohammad Hosni the calligrapher., Alsharq Al Awsat[newspaper], 2001/08/03, No. 8284: Article on Soad Hosni and her family by Mayad Beloun.<ref name="Etoday"></ref> She grew up in a household that was frequented by leading artists and calligraphers., Bio Article by Nasser Zarif Shafik], reverbnation.com. Retrieved 26 January 2016. . Nagat was singing at family gatherings from the age of five. She made her first film, Hadiya (released in 1947) at the age of eight., Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper, 2007/06/27, Issue No.10468, Arabic Article "Nagat El Saghira owner of the loud salience). , Al-Ahram Arabic newspaper in Egypt, 2012/12/06, Issue No. 46021: "Brother of Nagat El Saghira and Soad Hosni: I taught singing to Nagat", by Ahmad Al Samehi.
She is reported to have performed songs by the diva, Umm Kulthum, from the age of 7 years.Zuhur, S., Asmahan's Secrets: Art, Gender and Cultural Disputations Arab Women and the Media, Vol. 88, Winter 2000; Al-Raida Journal, vol. 88, 2016, pp 41–44, DOI:10.32380/alrj.v0i0.606 Along with Umm Kulthum, she was one of a small group of female singers who formed the Egyptian "golden age" of music in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.Stars Illustrated Magazine, New York, Times Square Press, 2018, p. 80; El Sayed, S., Folk Songs Features accompanying Shaa'by dancing of Reda's Group, Cairo: Helwan University, Faculty of Musical Education, 2000, pp 39–41
She was known as al-Saghira, meaning "the small one" or "the young one". She gained many fans after releasing the song, Irja Ilyya (Return to Me), based on a poem by Nizar Qabbani whose sister had committed suicide rather than enter into an arranged marriage. The song's feminist lyrics struck a chord with fans. During the 1970s, Nagat added original lines to the song during 1970s' performances, demonstrating her capacity for "inspired interpretation".Nouraie-Simone, F. (ed), On Shifting Ground: Muslim Women in the Global Era, The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2014, p. 101
In a recorded interview,, Recorded Nagat 1960s Interview in the mid-1960s for Egyptian TV with the presenter Ms Salwa Hegzi, Nagat stated that she had, at that time, eight brothers and sisters. Lately, some media outlets are indicating double that number; the most frequently mentioned is 17 brothers and sisters., British Broadcasting Corporation "BBC", 2001/06/28: "Egyptians mourn screen Cinderella". The discrepancy between eight and 17 siblings can be readily explained by the nature of an extended family. Nagat is one of eight siblings (four boys: Ezz Eddin, Nabil, Farooq and Sami; and four girls: Khadiga, Samira, Nagat herself and Afaf) from her father's first marriage; as well as three half-sisters from her father's second marriage to Gawhara (Kawther, Soad, Sabah). Following Gawhara's divorce from Hosni and remarriage to Abdel Monem Hafez, another six children were born (three boys: Jaheer, Jaser and Jalaa; and three girls: Gehan, Janjah and Jeely). The grand total of 17 is made up of eight full siblings; three half-sisters and six step-siblings. In the same interview, Nagat confirmed that she was brought up in a home where most of her brothers and sisters were artists., Alsharq Al Awsat newspaper, 2001/08/03, No. 8284: Article on Soad Hosni and her family by Mayad Beloun.
Family Her father's household was known as "the home of the Artists". Leading artists from across the Arab world regularly visited Hosni's home in Khan el-Khalili, Cairo. He nurtured his children's talents and encouraged them to pursue careers in the performing and visual arts.It may be worth noting that some sources, especially Arabic media report, occasionally repeat stories that Hosni was cruel father and denied his daughters an education. These rumours appear to be based on a largely fictionalised TV drama, but have been repeated occasionally in the Arabic media, and in at least one Dictionary of Biography (Ginsberg, T. and Lippard, C., Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema, Scarecrow Press, 2010, pp 181–182). Hosni's son, Ezz Eddin, dismissed these rumours about his family life, stressing that he and his siblings were raised in a supportive and artistic household where their talents were nurtured from a very young age. See: Al-Samahi, A., "Nagat's small brother and Suad Hosni: I learned to Survive Singing", (Interview with composer, Ezzidin Hosny), Al-Ahram, (Arabic newspaper in Egypt), 6 December 2012, Issue No. 46021, Online: (translated from Arabic) Many of his children became artists in their own rights. His son, Ezz Eddin Hosni (1927–2013) was a noted composer and taught Nagat music and singing. Another brother, son Sami Hosni became a cello player, jewellery designer and calligrapher., Al-Etihad newspaper, UAE, Obituary of Ezz- Eldin Hosni (brother of Nagat El Sagheera). Her other brother, Farooq, was a painter whose daughter, Samira, would also later become an actress.Mohammad Qanawi, "Nagat El Saghira wins 'Al Owais' Prize", 4 December 2006, Issue No. 10233 The Egyptian actress Soad Hosni (1943–2001) was Nagat's half-sister.
Marriages Nagat had two marriages. Her first marriage was at young age, in 1955, when she was 16 (or 17) years old to an Egyptian man called Kamal Mansi who was a friend of her brother. She divorced him around 1960 and remarried in 1967. Nagat also divorced from her second husband, Egyptian film director Houssam El-Din Mustafa (1926–2000), shortly afterwards and has remained single to date. Media reports suggest that she made a decision to devote her life to raising her only child, Waleed, from her first marriage, and to her work.
Vocal development and style In the first 10 years of her singing career, Nagat imitated other singers. Renowned Egyptian journalist Fekry Abaza (1896–1979) demanded that the State should support the young and gifted Nagat. According to her family that period "trained" her voice. However, in 1949, the iconic Egyptian music composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab (1902–1991) actually filed an official complaint at the Police station against Nagat's father. He claimed that such training hindered the natural process of her voice development and that she should be left alone to develop freely without it. , Arabic newspaper "Al Watan" in Qatar, 2012/10/03: Article on Nagat El Sagheera's retirement., 2009/07/20 2 "Mohammed Abdul-Wahab", latest update 2015/06/30.
Nagat broke away from imitating other singers when she released her own first song in 1955 at the age of 16 years. In the above-mentioned 1960s interview, Nagat herself indicated her first song was "Why did you allow me to love you?" Thereafter she released several other songs for Radio stations. Each song had a duration of 7 to 8 minutes. She began to deliver "long-duration" songs. All of these songs tell a story and typically had a length of 20–40 minutes in studio recordings. In order to keep her audience for the longer songs on stage, Nagat turned her attention to people like Nizar Qabbani. His classic poetic styles combine simplicity and elegance in exploring themes of love and feminism."Nizar Qabbani: From Romance to Exile”, Muhamed Al Khalil, 2005, A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Department of Near Eastern Studies in partial ulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate College of the University of Arizona, USA., Art and information: text of “Mata?” as written by Nizar Qabbani and as sung by Nagat El Saghira., Arabic news channel "Al Arabiya" in Saudi Arabia, original Article in December 2006 (latest update: 2011/11/01): “Nagat El Saghira: This is my story with Nizar”. She has sung at least four of his poems, all of which were composed by Abdul Wahab., Arabic book, Page 18: The works of Nizar Qabbani between Rainbows, Volume 1, Author: Mohammad Al Zeno Al Sallom. English translation: The other poetry, of entering the sea, erotic and Nizar Qabbani, Publisher: INTERLINK, New York, 1990 (Translator: Lina Jayosi et al). Nizar Qabbani poems table on page 18 shows four poems sung by Nagat El Saghira all with music by Abdul Wahab: I ask you to go, What am I going to tell him, What does he think (Aydhono) and Mata?.
These long-duration songs met with definite success, which critics have attributed to her rigorous training, lengthy rehearsals in the recording studios and endurance during on-stage performance. In total, Nagat El Sagheera may have recorded more than 200 songs;, Nagat songs (about 200 recordings). top 53 of which are available on Apple's iTunes web site, Nagat El Saghira Albums.
She built on this success in subsequent years, despite the difficulty of finding new outstanding poems and corresponding music compositions. To combat this shortage, she was forced to rely on her own abilities in performance. For example, in 1976, at the age of 37, she performed several songs in her last film "Dried Tears". One of these songs was "Mata?" derived from the poem written by Nizar Qabbani with music by Abdul Wahab. In the years that followed, Nagat sang it several times on stage, extending the delivery of the song from below 10 minutes in the film to about one hour on the stage.
Recognition and legacy Nagat's stage performances are at the core of her legacy. Kamal Al Taweel (1922–2003),, Obituary of Kamal El-Tawil (1922–2003), By Amina Elbendary stating his music in the form of songs was propagated by the Arab world's most famous singers including Nagat, Sabah (singer) and Warda Al-Jazairia. (Nagat refers to Nagat El Saghira). one of her distinguished collaborators, indicated in a TV interview that as far as music composers were concerned Nagat El Saghira was the best performer in the Arab world., Al Ahram Weekly Online, 2001/12/21 –2002/01/02, Issue No. 566, "Umm Kulthoum superstar" by Youssef Rakha and Nevine El-Aref.
Mohamed Abdel Wahab, the most prominent 20th-century Egyptian composer, felt his works were safest with Nagat. He described her as "the owner of the loud silence"!
Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998), The Independent, British newspaper, 1998/05/05. "Obituary: Nizar Qabbani” by Adel Darwish. a Syrian diplomat and one of the most revered contemporary poets in the Arab world said in a TV interview that he hoped to attract some 15 thousand readers when he published a book of poetry, but when Nagat sang one of his poems it attracted millions in the Arab-speaking world. He also said “… I believe she (Nagat) is the best among those who sang and expressed my poems”.