Izeta Selimović (27 March 1936 – 10 March 2020), known by her stage name Beba Selimović, was a Bosnian

sevdalinka Sevdalinka (), also known as Sevdah music, is a traditional genre of folk music originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sevdalinka is an integral part of the Bosniak culture, but is also spread across the ex-Yugoslavia ...

- folk singer and was one of the leading female singers of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, along with Zehra Deović, Nada Mamula and

Silvana Armenulić Silvana Bajraktarević (born Zilha Bajraktarević; 18 February 1939 – 10 October 1976), known professionally as Silvana Armenulić (), was a Bosnian singer-songwriter and actress and one of the most prominent commercial folk music and traditi ...

Early life and family

Selimović was born on 27 March 1936 in Trebinje,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

, while it was a part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 191 ...

. The Selimović family originally hails from

Bileća Bileća ( sr-cyrl, Билећа) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 10,807 inhabitants. History ...

. Being the youngest of five children in a

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

family, she was called ''beba'' (''baby'') by her older siblings and took that as her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

when she became a professional singer. At the age of seven, Selimović moved to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

with her family in 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, where she completed her schooling.

Career

Aged 17, she was one of six people chosen out of 300 candidates to sing for

Radio Sarajevo Radio Sarajevo is a radio station and magazine that began airing 10 April 1945, four days after the liberation of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina near the end of World War II. It was Bosnia and Herzegovina's first radio station. The first words s ...

, which kicked off her professional career in 1954 as a soloist for the station. Her first single, " Po mojoj bašti zumbuli cvjetaju" ("In My Garden

Hyacinths ''Hyacinthus'' is a small genus of bulbous, spring-blooming perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths (). The genus is native to the area of the eastern ...

Bloom"), was released in 1958. Selimović retired in 1988 following the release of her final studio album. Although her recorded songs have appeared on many compilation albums since the late 1980s, she did not record any new music since then. During her long career, she sang exclusively in two genres: Bosnian folk and

. She recorded songs with multiple Bosnian sevdalinka singers such as Zaim Imamović, Zehra Deović, Nada Mamula,

Safet Isović Safet Isović (; 20 October 1936 – 2 September 2007) was a Bosnian singer who performed the Bosnian traditional music sevdalinka. Early life and family Isović was born into a Bosniak family in Bileća, located in the Herzegovina region of mod ...

and Meho Puzić. She was good friends with Isović and Puzić until their deaths in 2007.

Personal life

Selimović married in 1958 at age 19, became a mother at the age of 20 and was later widowed at age 32 when her husband Sabrija died in a car crash in October 1971. She and her husband had two sons together, Samir and Senad. Her second marriage was to violinist Dževad Šabanagić. The couple lived in Sarajevo and they survived the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...

during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was one of the speakers at the funeral for

on 3 September 2007. Although retired from public life and opting to rarely grant interviews, she agreed to be interviewed for a November 2014 article with the newspaper ''

Dnevni avaz ''Dnevni avaz'' (; English: Daily Voice) is the most influential and best-selling daily newspaper in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is published in Sarajevo. Their web portal Avaz.ba is the third most visited website in Bosnia and Herzegovina, afte ...

''. Selimović said that she had retired years ago and ignored requests to perform on television, saying she had given the opportunity to younger generations to "continue."

Death

Selimović died on 10 March 2020 in her sleep, 17 days before her 84th birthday. She was buried in a Muslim funeral at Sarajevo's Bare Cemetery on 12 March 2020.

Discography

Extended plays

*'' Po mojoj bašti zumbuli cvjetaju'' (1958) *''Danju slušam pjesme tužne'' (1960) *'' Kiša pada, trava raste'' (1962) *'' Put putuje Latif aga'' (1962) *''Sarajevo na visokom gledu'' (1963) *''Djevojka viče s visoka brda'' (1963) *'' Tugo moja'' (1964) *''Sedamdeset i dva dana'' (1964) *''Banja Luko i ravnine tvoje'' (1965) *''Dva su cvijeta u bostanu rasla'' (1965) *''Hajde dušo da ašikujemo'' (1965) *''Kraj potoka bistre vode'' (1966) *''Tiho teci vodo Mošćanice'' (1967) *''Vrati mi se, ljubavi'' (1968) *''Sitna kiša rosila'' (1968) *''Mene moja majka gleda sa čardaka'' (1969) *''Što te nisam dragi srela davno'' (1970) *''O šuti šuti srce moje'' (1970) *''Na zemlji se jednom diše'' (1970) *''Plačem ja, plači ti'' (1971) *''Oprosti, oprosti'' (1972) *''Ostaje još jedan dug'' (1972) *''U srcu mome živiš samo ti'' (1972) *''Zbogom'' (1973) *''Pruži mi ruke'' (1974) *''Za kim tvoje srce plače'' (1975) *''Samo ti'' (1975) *''Tužno je nebo ljubavi'' (1977) *''Svu noć sam te čekala'' (1978) *''Voljeni, ljubljeni'' (1979)

Studio albums

*'' Mene majka gleda sa čardaka'' (1971) *''Od sevdaha goreg jada nema'' (1979) *''U srcu mome živiš samo ti'' (1984) *''Gorom jezde kićeni svatovi'' (1988)

Compilation albums

*''Sve behara...'' (1981) *''Najveći hitovi'' (2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Selimovic, Beba 1936 births 2020 deaths People from Trebinje Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina women singers Bosnia and Herzegovina folk singers Sevdalinka Yugoslav women singers Burials at Bare Cemetery, Sarajevo