{{short description|Israeli singer}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Esther Gamlielit <br> אסתר גמליאלית | image = Esther Gamlielit.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1919|03|13}} | birth_place = Egypt | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2012|09|17|1919|03|13}} | death_place = Ramat Yishai, Israel | genre = | years_active = 1930s, 1940s }} '''Esther Gamlielit''' ({{langx|he|אסתר גמליאלית}}; 13 March 1919 – 17 September 2012) was an Israeli singer and actress who was popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

==Biography==

Gamlielit was born on 13 March 1919 in Egypt to Yemenite-Jewish parents who were en route to Palestine.<ref name="JWA">{{cite web |last=Shahar |first=Nathan |authorlink=Nathan Shahar|title=Esther Gamlielit |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Gamlielit-Esther |website=Jewish Women's Archive}}</ref> After arriving, they settled in the Neve Tzedek quarter of Tel Aviv and later moved to the Yemenite Quarter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Esther Gamlielit (1919-2012) |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/music/news/Pages/gamlielit.aspx |website=National Library of Israel}}</ref>

At 16, she joined the Biblical Ballet, a dance studio mostly consisting of Yemenite Jewish women which blended Yemenite dance steps with biblical themes.<ref name="JWA" /> She gained notoriety as a singer through Biblical Ballet, eventually appearing on the British Mandate established radio station Kol Yerushalayim.<ref name="ZM">{{cite web |title=אסתר גמליאלית |url=https://www.zemereshet.co.il/artist.asp?id=250 |website=Zemereshet}}</ref> Gamlielit later joined Ha-Matate, a satirical theater. While with Matate, she was part of a trio with Shmuel Rodensky and Jacob Timen.

After a performance in Nes Ziyyonah she met Avigdor Yosippon, who was on guard duty. They fell in love and got married one week later.<ref name="JWA" /> Her marriage led to her retiring at 22, although she would make occasional one-time appearances. In 1960, she was invited by Dahn Ben-Amotz to perform in a nostalgia] show on artists of the Yishuv. In 1994, she was widowed from Avigdor.

In 2000, she produced a non-commercial album, with seventeen original recordings of her songs. She died on 17 September 2012 and was buried in Kiryat Tiv'on.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barnea |first1=Or |title=הזמרת אסתר גמליאלית הלכה לעולמה |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4293334,00.html |website=Ynet}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamlielit, Esther}} Category:1919 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Jewish Israeli musicians Category:Jewish women singers Category:Israeli stage actresses Category:Israeli people of Yemeni-Jewish descent Category:Egyptian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Category:20th-century Israeli women singers Category:People from Ramat Yishay