Rita Abatzi (1914-1969) singer
She was born in 1914 in Smyrna and came to Greece after the Asia Minor Catastrophe at the age of eight. Her family settled in Kokkinia. She sang rebetiko, smyrneika and demotic songs, becoming a leading recording artist on 78 records from 1930 to 1940. She worked with some of the greatest composers of the time, such as Panayiotis Toundas, Vangelis Papazoglou, Costas Skarvelis, Ioakovos Montanaris, Spyros Peristeris, Dimitris Semsis and Yiannis Ogdontakis, among others. Her singing career began around 1930, while her first recordings were done in 1931. During the 30s she sang at nightclubs with ensembles playing Smyrna melodies. Among others, Rita Abatzi was one of the most acclaimed performers of demotic songs of our times. She sang with Y. Papasideris, K. Roukounas and Y. Mytakis. After the war she never recorded 78 r.p.m. albums again. Her sister was Sofia Karivali (Abatzi), who was also a singer (she worked with Vamvakaris).