Ratiba Elhefny
Opera Singer
Egyptian opera singer who gave more than five hundred performances and was named director of the Cairo Opera House in 1988.
She studied folklore at the Humboldt University of Berlin from 1954 until 1968.
She served as President of the Arab Society for Music of the League of Arabic States.
Her father Mohamed Ahmed El-Hefny wrote over forty-five books on music.
She became prominent in Egypt around the same period as actor Omar Sharif.