Emina Zečaj
{{Short description|Bosnian singer (1929–2020)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Emina Zečaj
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Emina Ahmedhodžić
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|03|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Sarajevo, Drina Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|4|19|1929|3|17|df=y}}
| death_place = Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| resting_place = Bare Cemetery, Sarajevo
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- singer
}}
| years_active = 1962–2020
| spouse =
| children = 2
| parents =
| module = {{Infobox musical artist
| embed = yes
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| instrument = {{flat list|
- vocals
}}
| label = {{flat list|
}}
| website =
}}}}
Emina Zečaj (née Ahmedhodžić; 17 March 1929 – 19 April 2020){{Cite web|url=https://radiosarajevo.ba/metromahala/lica/preminula-emina-zecaj-jedna-od-najvecih-interpretatorki-sevdalinke/374450|title=Preminula Emina Zečaj, jedna od najvećih interpretatorki sevdalinke|website=Radio Sarajevo}} was a Bosnian interpreter of the traditional folk music, sevdalinka.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3UtAQAAIAAJ&q=emina+zecaj|title=Who is who among Bosniacs; page 529|year=2001|isbn=9789958470806|accessdate=18 November 2014}}
Zečaj was called an "icon of traditional Bosnian music" by American Billboard magazine in 2004.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uw8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=emina+zecaj&pg=PA53|title=Billboard magazine; page 53|date=14 February 2004|accessdate=18 November 2014}}
Early life
Emina was born in Sarajevo's Old Town, in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina on 17 March 1929. She was the daughter of Avdija Ahmedhodžić and his wife Melća.{{cite web|url=http://www.ekapija.com/website/bih/company/photoArticle.php?id=625436&path=Emina_Zecaj_060912.jpg|title=Emina Zečaj, interpretatorka sevdalinke - Ikona bh. sevdaha|publisher=Ekapija|date=5 September 2012|accessdate=18 November 2014}}
Career
Professor Cvjetko Rihtman, an ethnomusicologist, discovered her in the early 1960s. Following persuasion from her friends, Emina auditioned before two well-known professors, Zvonimir Nevžela and Beluš Jungić, with the folk songs Kad se jangin iz sokaka pomoli and Poranila na vodicu Zlata. Ten days later she received a phone call from Ismet Alajbegović Šerbo informing her that she had been accepted into Radio Sarajevo, beating out 30 other contestants.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiosarajevo.ba/novost/219215/emina-zecaj-ne-moze-sevdalinka-biti-nicija-nego-nasa-bosanska |title=Emina Zečaj: Ne može sevdalinka biti ničija nego naša, bosanska |publisher=Radio Sarajevo |date=13 March 2016 |accessdate=7 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418202503/http://www.radiosarajevo.ba/novost/219215/emina-zecaj-ne-moze-sevdalinka-biti-nicija-nego-nasa-bosanska |archivedate=18 April 2016 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.nezavisne.com/umjetnost-zabava/muzika/Emina-Zecaj-Citav-zivot-se-borim-za-sevdah-28567.html|title=Čitav život se borim za sevdah|publisher=Nezavisne|date=8 September 2008|accessdate=18 November 2014}}
Zečaj recorded music for the 2003 drama-comedy film Fuse. She also collaborated with Adi Lukovac on the soundtrack for the 2003 war film Remake (Remake - soundtrack).{{cite web|url=http://www.radiosarajevo.ba/novost/218956/emina-zecaj-prica-i-pjeva-u-emisiji-cetvrtkom-o-kulturi|title=Priča i pjeva u emisiji Četvrtkom o kulturi|publisher=Radio Sarajevo|date=10 March 2016|accessdate=7 April 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418182135/http://www.radiosarajevo.ba/novost/218956/emina-zecaj-prica-i-pjeva-u-emisiji-cetvrtkom-o-kulturi|archivedate=18 April 2016}} It was Lukovac's final project before dying in a car accident three years later.
Death
Zečaj was in good health until shortly before her death at age 91. She died on the night of 19 April 2020 in her home. She had attended the funeral of Beba Selimović the previous month at Sarajevo's Bare Cemetery where she was also buried in a Muslim cemetery on 22 April 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.faktor.ba/vijest/u-89-godini-preminula-emina-zecaj/79912|title=U 89. godini preminula Emina Zečaj|website=www.faktor.ba}}{{Cite web|url=https://avaz.ba/showbiz/jet-set/564856/obavljena-dzenaza-emini-zecaj|title=Obavljena dženaza Emini Zečaj|website=Avaz.ba}}
Discography
{{Inc-musong|date=October 2021}}
- Pijana sam i bez pića (1974){{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Emina-Ahmedhod%C5%BEi%C4%87-Pijana-Sam-I-Bez-Pi%C4%87a/release/3764545|title=Pijana sam i bez pića|publisher=Discogs|year=1974|accessdate=18 November 2014}}
- Narodne pjesme iz Bosne (1975){{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Emina-Ahmedhod%C5%BEi%C4%87-Ze%C4%8Daj-Narodne-Pjesme-Iz-Bosne/release/3241144|title=Narodne pjesme iz Bosne|publisher=Discogs|date=January 1975|accessdate=18 November 2014}}
- Traditional Bosnian Songs (2003)
- Zečaj Emina (2005)
- Emina Zečaj (2008)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.discogs.com/artist/2506029-Emina-Ahmedhod%C5%BEi%C4%87-Ze%C4%8Daj Emina Ahmedhodžić-Zečaj at Discogs]
- {{Discogs artist|Emina Zečaj}} as Emina Zečaj
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zecaj, Emina}}
Category:Singers from Sarajevo
Category:Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims
Category:21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina women singers
Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina folk singers
Category:20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina women singers