#star of the east
Fatma Ibrahim El Sayed El Beltagy was born on December 31, 1898 in a rural village in Egypt's Daqahliya governorate to a poor family. From a young age, her vocal talents were clearly exceptional but it is improbable that anyone expected Om Kalthoum to rise to such heights of fame or be remembered 41 years after her death as "The Star of the East." Under her father's direction, who was an imam, she began attending the Qur'an school in her village at…