Emina Zečaj

Emina Zečaj (née Ahmedhodžić; 17 March 1929 – 19 April 2020)^[1] was a Bosnian interpreter of the traditional folk music, sevdalinka.^[2]

Zečaj was called an "icon of traditional Bosnian music" by American Billboard magazine in 2004.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5][6]

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).^[7] It was Lukovac's final project before dying in a car accident three years later.

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.^[1] 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.^[8][9]

This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021)

• Pijana sam i bez pića (1974)^[10]
• Narodne pjesme iz Bosne (1975)^[11]
• Traditional Bosnian Songs (2003)
• Zečaj Emina (2005)
• Emina Zečaj (2008)

• Emina Ahmedhodžić-Zečaj at Discogs
• Emina Zečaj discography at Discogs as Emina Zečaj