Public Figures

Wadih el Safi

Wadih El Safi (born Wadi’ Francis in Niha, Lebanon, in 1921) was a Lebanese singer songwriter, and actor of Assyrian/Syriac background. He was a Lebanese cultural icon, and has been referred to as the “Voice of Lebanon.” Wadih El Safi started his artistic journey at the age of seventeen when he took part in a singing contest held by Lebanese Radio and was chosen the winner among fifty other competitors.

Wadih el Safi passed away on October 11, 2013 from pulmonary consolidation at the age of 91. He was a classically trained tenor, having studied at the Beirut National Conservatory of Music. He became nationally known when, at seventeen, he won a vocal competition sponsored by the Lebanese Broadcasting Network. El Safi began composing and performing songs that drew upon his rural upbringing and love of traditional melodies, blended with an urban sound, and creating a new style of modernized Lebanese folk music. He performed in venues throughout the Middle East.