Google Doodle celebrates Egyptian Arabic actress and singer Shadia’s 90th Birthday

Google Doodle celebrates the 90th birthday of an Egyptian Arabic actress and singer Shadia (شادية‎), a popular for her roles in light comedies and drama during the 1950s and 1960s in Egypt and all the Arab World Cinema, on February 8, 2021.

Who was Shadia (شادية‎)?

Born as Fatma Ahmed Kamal Shaker (فاطمة أحمد كمال شاكر‎) on 8 February 1931 in the Helmyia El Gadida, in Cairo; Egypt. She was better known by her stage name Shadia. She is one of the notable actresses and singers in Egypt and the middle east region and a symbol of the golden age of Egyptian Cinema and is known for her numerous patriotic songs.

Since her childhood, Shadia loved to sing and was urged to seek after the music at primary school. Also, she started acting at fifteen years old. Shadia was the voice of Egypt during hard and war times, she was acclaimed for her Egyptian patriotic songs, particularly “Ya Habibti Ya Masr” (Oh Egypt, My Love) and “Aqwa Mn El Zaman” (Stronger Than Time).

Her first appearance in a film was in “Azhar wa Ashwak” (Flowers and Thorns), and her last film was “La Tas’alni Man Ana” (Don’t Ask Me Who I Am).

Shadia (شادية‎) took an interest in numerous operettas alongside other prominent Egyptian and Arabic singers about Egypt and the Arab world including: “Al Watan Al Akbar” (The Great Nation), “El Geel El Sa’ed” (The Rising Generation), and “Soot El Gamaheer” (The Voice of the Masses).

Fatma Ahmed Kamal Shaker was given the stage name “Shadia” by herself following the name of an infant of one of her family’s companions. In her heyday during the 1950s and 1960s, Shadia acted in various melodramas, romance, and comedy movies. Nonetheless, it was her musical talent as a singer that set up Shadia as one of the most important Egyptian film stars of her period.

Generally, as “Shadia”, she acted in more than 100 movies. She featured in more than 30 movies with the actor Kamal El Shennawy, and sang inverse Farid El Atrash and Abdel Halim Hafez, for example, in “Ma’boudat El Gamaheer” (The People’s Idol, 1967).

A considerable lot of her movies highlighted famous musical numbers currently viewed as classics of Egyptian cinema, similar to her 1957 duet with Farid al-Atrash: “Ya Salam Ala Hobi Wi Hobak” (“Our Love is Exceptional”).

Shadia (شادية‎) likewise produced two movies and showed up in a few movies in Japan. After getting back from the debut of “Raya and Sakina”, Shadia expressed that she gave genuine thought that night to the idea of repentance.

The next morning, she informed her producers that she wanted no part in the play from that point on, however eventually vowed to complete her work when they demanded that she do as such.

From that point, Shadia retired from the film and music industry and went on an Umrah to Mecca, where she met the famous Egyptian Azhari scholar Sheik El Shaarawy. Her meeting with El-Shaarawy affected Shadia to contact her official decision to begin wearing the hijab.

Shadia’s mega-hit song “Ya Habibti Ya Masr” (Oh Egypt, My adoration), was considered as a standout amongst other patriotic songs ever. After right around 25 years of her retirement, Shadia’s song became an anthem of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.

On 28 November 2017, Shadia passed on at 86 years old from respiratory failure caused by pneumonia in Cairo, Egypt.

Shadia (شادية‎) is additionally known for her patriotic song “Ya Habibti Ya Masr” (Oh Egypt, My Love) and her breakthrough leading role in the Egyptian film “Al Maraa Al Maghoula” (The Unknown Woman).

In April 2015, she became the first actress to be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Academy of Arts (Egypt). Six of her films are recorded in the top 100 Egyptian movies of the 20th century.

Shadia (شادية‎) was given the nickname “Idol of the Masses” following her successful film “Maaboudat El Gamaheer” (Idol of the Masses). Other remarkable nicknames incorporate “The Guitar of the Arabic Singing” (قيثارة الغناء العربى‎) and “The Golden Guitar” (القيثارة الذهبية‎).

On February 8, 2021, Google Doodle, outlined by visitor artist Ahmad Thabit, observed Shadia’s 90th Birthday with a Google Doodle.