Georges Moustaki

Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian-French singer-songwriter of Jewish Italo-Greek origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, Françoise Hardy, Yves Montand, Barbara, Brigitte Fontaine, Herbert Pagani, France Gall, Cindy Daniel, Juliette Gréco, Pia Colombo, and Tino Rossi, as well as for himself. Early life in Egypt Georges Moustaki was born Giuseppe Mustacchi in Alexandria, Egypt, on 3 May 1934. His parents, Sarah and Nessim Mustacchi, were Francophile, Greek Jews from the ancient Romaniote Jewish community. Originally from the Greek island of Corfu, they moved to Egypt, where Giuseppe was born and first learned French. They owned the Cité du Livre bookshop in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, where many ethnic communities lived together. Moustaki's father spoke five languages and his mother spoke six. The young Giuseppe and his two older sisters spoke Italian at home and Arabic in the streets. Their parents placed Giuseppe and his sisters in a French school where they learned to speak French.