Muharem "Mumo" Serbezovski is a Muslim Roma singer, popular in former Yugoslavia.
28 Facts About Muharem Serbezovski
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Muharem Serbezovski is a writer and translator and was briefly in Bosnian politics in the 2000s.
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Muharem Serbezovski emerged as a singer in the 1960s, having released his first album at only 12.
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Muharem Serbezovski became one of the most popular Romani singers in Yugoslavia and reached a wide popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.
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Muharem Serbezovski has released 12 albums and 22 singles and extended plays.
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Since the 1980s, Serbezovski has established himself as a writer and translator, having written several books and translated the Quran into Romani language.
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Muharem Serbezovski was born on May 2,1950, in Topaana, the oldest Romani settlement of Skopje, at that time capital of the People's Republic of Macedonia.
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Muharem Serbezovski's family belonged to the local Romani minority and included 11 members.
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Muharem Serbezovski's father was an imam and gave him a great interest for Islam and its culture.
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Muharem Serbezovski rose to fame in the late 1960s, thanks to the help of Stevo Teodosievski, a folk composer and director of a Romani ensemble, and his wife Esma Redzepova, herself a Roma singer.
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Muharem Serbezovski was not their only protege as they encouraged other local Roma artists.
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Muharem Serbezovski started to experience a wide success in 1968, at the age of 18, following the release of his second single.
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In 1969, Muharem Serbezovski left Skopje, as did most of the local Romani artists.
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Muharem Serbezovski first followed Stevo and Esma to Belgrade, at that time the capital city of Yugoslavia and its main cultural hub.
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Muharem Serbezovski's style was inspired by mainstream pop music and the Indian Romani heritage, while Serbezovski wanted to develop a music closer to Turkish and Arabic cultures.
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Nonetheless, Muharem Serbezovski always tried to reach a wide audience and explored various kinds of music, including Indian music.
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Several of Muharem Serbezovski's songs show such an influence, primarily Ramu, Ramu and Ramajana, both released in 1974.
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Muharem Serbezovski went to India in 1978 to attend the Roma festival in Chandigarh.
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Besides his artistic connection to Stevo Teodosievski and Esma Redzepova, Muharem Serbezovski has worked with other Yugoslav pop-folk artists, including his own brother, Ajnur Serbezovski, with whom he released a single in 1976 and an album in 1982.
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Muharem Serbezovski defines himself as one of the few Romani intellectuals.
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Muharem Serbezovski is responsible for the first Romani translation of the Qur'an and is himself an author, having penned several novels and poems.
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Muharem Serbezovski started his career as a writer and translator in the 1980s when he continued the work of his father, who had started to translate the Qur'an into Romani.
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Muharem Serbezovski has plans to translate the Old and New Testament, Hadiths and some well-known literary works into Romani.
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Muharem Serbezovski published an essay, Cigani i ljudska prava in 2000.
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Muharem Serbezovski briefly involved himself in Bosnian politics in the 2000s.
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Muharem Serbezovski joined Haris Silajdzic's Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Bosniak party, and was elected a member of the Bosnian parliament in 2006 for a 4-year term.
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Muharem Serbezovski never intended to become a professional politician but wanted to represent Roma people on the Bosnian political scene.
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Muharem Serbezovski resigned from his political party in 2010 citing discrimination from the leaders of the group.