Ferdi Özbeğen (19 August 1941 – 28 January 2013) was a Turkish singer of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and popular music.

Early life and education

Ferdi Özbeğen was born on 17 August 1941, in Izmir. His father was Hassan Özbeğen, an

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, and his mother Afet "Anita" Özbeğen, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

from

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Their son's name was originally "Ferdinand." At some point, the family moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where young Ferdi enrolled for his secondary education into the Mıhitaryan School. At the age of 11, Özbeğen, along with his secondary school tuition started taking music lessons at home. He graduated from

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

in Economics in 1960. When his father died in 1963, he turned to music in a professional capacity.

Career

In 1965, Özbegen, along with the orchestra he'd put together, participated in the "Golden Microphone" competition organized by the ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' newspaper, performing the songs "Kes Kes" ("Cut Cut") and "Sandığımı Açamadım" ("I Can't Open My Chest"). He soon established himself as a performer of ''

fantezi Fantezi is a Turkish music genre composed in Turkish language in accordance with the tradition of the Turkish people. Also called folk song or urban folk music, in its plural form is a Turkish music genre which has taken many forms over the years. ...

'' urban folk music. On 1977, he released his first album and won a sales award for "Sohbet" ("Conversation") as well as a golden-piano award for "Mutluluklar" ("Happiness"). He recorded overall some 28 albums in his career. In 1980, he starred in the movie ''Tanrıya Feryat'' ("Howl to God") in 1980 with

Gülşen Bubikoğlu Gülşen Bubikoğlu (born 5 December 1954) is a Turkish actress, one of the leading ladies of Turkish cinema in the 1970s and into the early 1980s. She studied at Fatih Kız Lisesi and was a fashion model for a time. Her first leading role was in ...

, Tanju Gürsu, and

Hulusi Kentmen Hulusi Kentmen (20 January 1912 – 20 December 1993) was a Turkish actor. He was born in Tarnovo, Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe ...

. He also worked a

guest actor In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

in the television series ''Perihan Abla'' (''Sister Perihan''), one of the most popular productions of the 1980s.

Personal life

Özbeğen opened up about his homosexuality as an adult and, gay marriage being illegal in the 1990s, he adopted his life partner.

Death

In 2001, he was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

, which he survived for more than a dozen years. He died on 28 January 2013 at the Okmeydanı Training and Research Hospital of Istanbul. After a memorial ceremony held at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall on 30 January and a religious funeral at the Levent mosque, he was buried in the Ulus Cemetery.

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Death

See also

References

Further reading