Rita Abatzi (1914 – 17 June 1969) was a Greek rebetiko

Rebetiko

Rebetiko, plural rebetika, , occasionally transliterated as Rembetiko, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek folk music which have come to be grouped together since the so-called rebetika revival, which started in the 1960s and developed further from the early...

musician who began her career in the first part of the 1930s.

She was born in Smyrna

Smyrna

Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...

, Asia Minor

Asia Minor

Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

, now İzmir

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. A versatile singer of rebetiko, Smyrneika and other music, she was a popular performer on gramophone record

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

s in the 1930s. During that decade, the only female singer of rebetiko who rivalled her in popularity, and in the number of her recordings, was Roza Eskenazi

Roza Eskenazi

Roza Eskenazi was a famous Jewish-Greek singer of rebetiko and Greek folk music born in Constantinople , whose recording and stage career extended from the late 1920s into the 1970s....

.

Abatzi performed with many of the most famous musicians including Panayiotis Toundas, Vangelis Papazoglou, Kostas Skarvelis

Kostas Skarvelis

Kostas Skarvelis was a Greek composer of popular music, οf the genre of rembetiko in particular. He also wrote the lyrics for his songs and was an excellent guitar player, having participated in many recordings.-Life:...

, Iakovos Montanaris, Spyros Peristeris, Dimitrios Semsis

Dimitrios Semsis

Dimitrios Semsis or "Dimitrios Salonikios" was a Greek violinist born Dimitrios Koukoudeas in Ottoman Strumica.At the end of 19th century, he joined the band of a circus, which was traveling all over the Balkans. In 1908 married his first wife Sonhoula Bochor Hanne and become his daughter...

, I. Ogdontaki up to Markos Vamvakaris

Markos Vamvakaris

Markos Vamvakaris , was a rebetiko musician. He is universally referred to by rebetiko writers and fans simply by his first name, Markos...

 and Vassilis Tsitsanis

Vassilis Tsitsanis

Vassilis Tsitsanis was a Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern Rebetika. Tsitsanis wrote more than 500 songs and is still remembered as an extraordinary bouzouki...

. Her career ended after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She did not publish any discography. She died in Egaleo

Egaleo

Aegaleo, commonly Aigaleo or Egaleo is a municipality west of Athens, Greece, situated west of the Cephissos river and southeast of Mount Egaleo...

 (Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

), Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

.

Her sister, Sofia Karivali, was also a notable singer of rebetiko.