{{Infobox musical artist | name = Marika Ninou | native_name = Μαρίκα Νίνου | native_name_lang = el | image = Marika Ninou.jpg | caption = | years_active = mid-1940s–1957 | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Evangelia Atamian | birth_date = before {{birth date|1922|2|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Aegean Sea, Greece | death_date = {{death date and given age|1957|2|23|35|df=y}} | death_place = Greece | origin = | genre = Rebetiko | occupation = Singer | instrument = | label = | associated_acts = Vassilis Tsitsanis | website = }} '''Marika Ninou''' ({{langx|el|Μαρίκα Νίνου}}; born '''Evangelia Atamian''' ({{lang|el|Ευαγγελία Αταμιάν}}); 1922 – 23 February 1957) was an Armenian-Greek<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Kupula|editor-first=Mikko|title=Epi tēs ousias : studies in honour of Jussi Korhonen|year=2008|publisher=Books on Demand|location=Finland, Helsinki|isbn=9789524980777}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Greek|first=original text by Elias Petropoulos; translated from the|title=Songs of the Greek underworld : the Rebetika tradition|year=2000|publisher=Saqi|location=London|isbn=9780863563980|author2=introduction, with |author3=Kanavakis, additional text by Ed Emery |author4= illustrations by A. }}</ref> rebetiko singer.

==Biography== She was born in 1922 aboard the ship Evangelistria, which brought her mother, two sisters, and eight-year-old brother, Barkev Atamian, from Smyrna (present-day İzmir) to Piraeus. Because she was thought unlikely to survive at birth, she was taken to a warehouse after delivery. However, she survived, and the captain of the Evangelistria immediately baptized her, giving her the name Evangelia, meaning “she of the Gospel” or “bearer of good news” in Greek.

In Greece, her family settled in Kokkinia, at 50 Megara Street. At the age of seven, Ninou started attending the Armenian School of Blue Cross of Greece "Zavarian" in Kokkinia.

There she learned to play the mandolin and joined the school orchestra. Because of her vocal abilities, she also sang at the Armenian Church of St. Hagop in Kokkinia. In 1939, she married her first husband Haig Mesrobian, who was a locksmith and had a shop in Kokkinia, and in 1940 gave birth to their son Ovanes. In 1947, Soviet ships came to Greece to take the Armenians who would want to leave and go to Armenia. Half the Armenian population of Thessaloniki and Athens left. Among them was Ninou's husband, Haig, who left his wife and son behind.

She met the acrobat Nikos Nikolaides "Nino" in 1944 and married him. They began to perform together as "''The Duo Nino''". When her son joined the act, they became "''the Two-and-a-half Nino''".

In a performance of the ''Ninos'', the artist ''Petros Kyriakos'' heard her singing and recommended her to Manolis Chiotis. Chiotis recorded two songs with her in 1948.

In October 1948 Stelakis Perpiniadis (Greek: Στελλάκης Περπινιάδης) brought her under his wing as a singer at the ''Florida'' club.

By 1949, Ninou had begun working with Vassilis Tsitsanis at Fat Jimmy's, a venue that later played an important role in both of their careers, and the Tsitsanis–Ninou partnership became significant in the history of Greek music.

In October 1951 Ninou performed with Tsitsanis in Istanbul, but after this trip, they decided to go their separate ways.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Broughton|editor-first=Simon|title=World music|year=1999|publisher=Rough Guides|location=London|isbn=9781858286358|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoworl00simo|url-access=registration|edition=New}}</ref>

Before heading off to the United States in 1954, she underwent a cancer operation in Athens. Nonetheless, her cancer spread rapidly in the US and she returned to Greece where she worked under great pain for a short while before succumbing to her illness at 35 years of age.

==Legacy== Ninou possessed a high-pitched voice of substantial body and volume and impeccable tonality, and sang with emotional intensity. She recorded a total of 174 songs, of which 119 as lead singer.

The movie ''Rembetiko'' by Costas Ferris is based on her life.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Cowie|editor-first=P.|title=International film guide 1985|year=1984|publisher=Tantivy Press|location=London|isbn=9780900730221|edition=22nd updated}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{rembetika}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ninou, Marika}} Category:1922 births Category:1957 deaths Category:Musicians from Piraeus Category:People from Constantinople vilayet Category:Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire Category:20th-century Greek women singers Category:Greek rebetiko singers Category:Deaths from cancer in Greece Category:Greek people of Armenian descent Category:People born at sea