Μαρίκα Νίνου

Μαρίκα Νίνου {Marika Ninou} 1922–1957 Was An Armenian-Greek Rembetiko Singer Born Ευαγγελία Αταμιάν Evangelia Atamian . Νίνου Was Born On The Ship Evangelistria Which Took Her Mother Her Sisters And Her Brother To Athens From Smyrna Among Other Refugees From Asia Minor. When She Was Seven Years Old She Started Going To The Armenian School. There She Learned To Play Mandolin And Joined The School Orchestra. Meanwhile Because Of Her Voice Qualities She Sang At The Armenian Church Of St. Jacob. In 1939 She Married Her First Husband. In 1940 She Gave Birth To Their Son Ovanes. In 1947 Soviet Ships Came To Greece To Take The Armenians Who Wanted To Leave And Go To Armenia. Half The Armenian Population Of Thessaloniki And Athens Left. Among Them Was Her Husband Who Left His Wife And Son Behind. She Met The Acrobat Νίκος Νικολαΐδης "Nino" In 1944 And Married Him. They Began To Perform Together As "The Duo Nino". When Her Son Joined Them They Become "the Two-And-A-Half Ninos". During A Performance Of The Ninos The Artist Πέτρος Κυριάκος Petros Kyriakos Heard Her Singing And Recommended Her To Μανώλης Χιώτης Manolis Chiotis . Χιώτης Recorded Two Songs With Her In 1948. In October 1948 Στελλάκης Περπινιάδης Stelakis Perpiniadis Brought Her Under His Wing As A Singer At The Florida Club. By 1949 Νίνου Began Working With Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης Vassilis Tsitsanis At Fat Jimmy's A Place That Would Serve To Play A Decisive Role In Both Their Lives With The Τσιτσάνης-Νίνου Pairing Coming To Possess A Very Special Place In The History Of The Music Of Greece. In October 1951 Νίνου Performed With Τσιτσάνης In Constantinople But After This Trip They Decided To Go Their Separate Ways. Before Heading Off To The USA In 1954 She Underwent A Cancer Operation In Athens. Her Cancer Spread Rapidly While She Was In The USA Though And She Returned To Greece Where She Worked Under Great Pain For A Short While Before Succumbing To Her Illness At Thirty-Four Years Of Age On 23rd February 1957. Νίνου Possessed A High-Pitched Voice Of Substantial Body And Volume And Impeccable Tonality And Sang With Emotional Intensity. She Recorded A Total Of 174 Songs 119 As The Leading Singer. The Film Ρεμπέτικο By Κώστας Φέρρης Costas Ferris Was Very Loosely Based On Her Life. read less