Halim el-Roumi

Halim el-Roumi
حليم الرومي
Halim in his early years.
Background information
Born
Halim el-Roumi

July 1919
OriginLebanese
Died1 November 1983(1983-11-01) (aged 64)
Beirut, Lebanon
GenresArabic, classical
Occupationscomposer and singer
InstrumentVocals
Years activeEarly 1950s – 1970s

Halim el-Roumi (Arabic: حليم الرومي) (July 1919 – 1983) was a Lebanese singer and composer.

Born in Tyre, Lebanon to Lebanese parents, he began his amateur artistic career in 1935, when he was in Haifa, Palestine. Later, as a radio chief first in Haifa and then in Lebanon, he discovered the singer Fairuz. He composed her music, introduced her to the choir of Radio Liban and was the originator of her stage name. El-Roumi also became director of Radio libanaise.

He is famous for composing the poem La Volonté de vivre (إرادة الحياة) by the Tunisian poet Aboul-Qacem Echebbi for the Arab singer Souad Mohamed. He is the father of Majida Al Roumi, Mona Al Roumi, Awad Al Roumi and Maha Al Roumi.