Eftalya Işılay (1891 – 15 March 1939), née Anastasia
Georgiadou (Greek: ἈναστασίαΓεωργιάδου), best known as
Deniz Kızı Eftalya (Turkish for
"Efthalia the Mermaid"), was an Ottoman and later Turkish singer of
Greek ethnicity.
Anastasia Georgiadou was born Ottoman Greek in 1891 in the Büyükdere suburb of Istanbul, then Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey. Her father was a Captain of the Ottoman Gendarmerie.
At a very young age, she accompanied her instrument-playing
father in singing at guest gatherings. Later, she sang to her father's music on
a rowboat on Bosphorus off Büyükdere among 20-30 rowboats during full moon at
summer nights.
She sometimes sang alone in the sea at night. People at the
seashore, listening to her singing, nicknamed her Deniz Kızı Eftalya
("Efthalia the Mermaid") from the age of five or six.
She sang cantos and folk songs on stage at the music-performance coffee houses in Galata quarter. Her music career changed after her marriage to Sadi (later Işılay)[1], a notable violinist. She performed together with her husband.
The number of her records after 1927 neared 50. After her songs were acclaimed at performances before President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (r. 1923–1938), from 1930 on she did not avoid using her name. She used the name "Deniz Kızı Eftalya" on most of her records except for eleven of them. In 1934, she recorded for the label His Master's Voice under the name "Eftalya Sadi", using her husband's given name as her family name, just before the surname law took effect in Turkey.
She was associated with Greek-Turkish master musicians and
composers, oud player Yorgo Bacanos (1900–1977) and his brother, kemenche, and
oud virtuoso Aleko Bacanos [tr] (1888–1950). She was so popular under the
nickname "Deniz Kızı Eftalya" that Aleko Bacanos dedicated to her a
composition titled Gel Ey Denizin Nazlı Kızı Nûş-i Şarâb Et ("Come on, coy
mermaid, drink wine") in the Acem-Aşiran melody type. The song became so
famous that its cover versions were performed by the Modern Folk Trio and other
notable artists several decades later.
Eftalya's artistic life of almost 25 years ended with the jubilee night, organized on 4 August 1936 by the "Şirket-i Hayriye" (today Istanbul City Ferry Line) during a full moon night. Four passenger ferries were decorated, and a stage was constructed on a raft. The ferries sailed from Bebek on the Bosphorus northwards up to Büyükdere, stopping by piers on both sides of the strait. People gathered ashore joined the event with paper lanterns. The program featured also zeibekiko dances, whose music Eftalya enjoyed.
She fell ill during the jubilee event, and died in Istanbul on 15 March 1939. She was interred at Şişli Greek Orthodox Cemetery following the religious funeral service at the Hagia Triada Church.
Discography
Denizkızı Eftalya – Kadıköylü (CD) (in Turkish). Kalan
Müzik. 4 May 1998. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. 22 tracks of
Ottoman classical and Turkish folk music.
[1] Sadettin (Sadi) Işılay (b.February 5, 1899 · Constantinople, Ottoman Empire Istanbul, Turkey -d. March 11, 1969 · Istanbul, Turkey)
In 1911, he was one of the musicians that took part in Sultan Reşat's trip to Salonika that ended with a concert. Between 1922 and 1926 he did free lance work in Izmir. He then lived in Paris for 3 years. He gave many concerts in France, India, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Cyprus.
He composed over 30 film soundtracks. In 1984, he was awarded the most successful composer with his composition "Nene Gerek" for the film "Unutulmayan Sır". He performed from time to time on the Istanbul Radio and was on the Board of the Istanbul conservatory and the Turkish Art & Music Board and was also on the Board of the TRT repertoire. Sadi Işılay passed away on the 11th of March 1969.
He was a composer and actor, known for Beklenen Sarki (1953), Köroglu (1945) and Kara Efe (1952). He was previously married to Eftalya Işılay.