Badia Masabni

Badia Masabni (Arabic: بديعة مصابني‎‎, born Wadiha Masabni Arabic: وديعة مصابني‎‎; 1892-1974), was an actress and belly dancer born to a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother, best known for opening a series of influential clubs in Cairo from the 1920s onward.

Badiaa is considered to be the matron of modern belly dance and is credited with launching the careers of Egyptian belly dance stars Samia Gamal and Taheyya Kariokka.

Early life

Badiaa was born in 1892 in Damascus, Ottoman Empire, one of seven siblings to a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother. Her father owned a Soapmaking business.^[1] The family's financial condition abruptly worsened when Badia's father died leaving his sons to care for the family business. Soon afterwards, the soap factory was consumed by fire and one of Badia's brother died with fever.

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