Ayşe Şan (Aysha Shan) (1938 – 18 December 1996) was a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

singer. She was also known by the names ''Eyşana Kurd, Eyşe Xan, Eyşana Eli.'' She is considered one of the most legendary voices in contemporary Kurdish music. Her father was a traditional Kurdish singer or ''

dengbêj Dengbêj () is a Kurdish music genre sung by Dengbêj. Dengbêjs are singing storytellers. There have been many terms to describe Dengbêjs throughout history, but today Dengbêj is the best known, and also several singing storytellers use Dengb ...

''. Ayşe began singing at local events in 1958. After an unsuccessful marriage, she moved to

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

, where she began recording Turkish songs for the local radio station. She moved to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1960 and recorded her first album in

. Due to pressure on artists performing in Kurdish, she emigrated to Germany in 1976. While in Germany, her 18-month-old daughter Shahnaz died, and Şan wrote the song "Qederê" in memory of her daughter. In 1979, she paid a visit to

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

where she met with many Kurdish musicians and singers such as Mihemed Arif Cizîrî and Tahsin Taha. From the 1980s onwards, she settled in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

and worked in a local post office until she died in 1996 due to cancer. Despite her wishes to be buried in Diyarbakir, Şan's family reportedly could not afford the expense of doing so. However, nearly three decades after her death, in 18th June 2025, her body was retuned to her hometown of Diyarbakir (Amed), honoring her last wish. Şan was known as 'the Queen without a crown'. Among her most famous songs is "Xerîbim Dayê". The song is about her mother's death, a sad episode in her life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San, Ayse 1938 births 1996 deaths People from Diyarbakır Kurdish women singers Turkish people of Kurdish descent Kurdish-language singers of Turkey 20th-century Turkish women singers