Madam Anahit

Madam Anahit — Biography

Born Anahit Yulanda Varan, and also known as Anahit Kuyrig, Madam Anahit was a Turkish Armenian musician born in 1917 in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. Carrying a Hohner accordion through the streets of Beyoğlu, especially around the Çiçek Pasajı arcade, she played old Istanbul tangos, Greek butcher tunes and Armenian tavern songs, becoming, over some forty years, one of the arcade's most recognizable fixtures.

Later in her career she also performed on Nevizade Sokak, and she occasionally appeared on screen in small extra roles in films. Featured in numerous documentaries about Beyoğlu and the Çiçek Pasajı, she became one of the enduring symbols of the neighborhood's street culture and died in Istanbul on August 29, 2003.