Life & contribution
Baghdad-trained qanun virtuoso whose musical education included the Jewish school for the blind and whose performances preserved Iraqi musical traditions.
Detailed biography & historical context
Baghdad-trained qanun virtuoso whose musical education included the Jewish school for the blind and whose performances preserved Iraqi musical traditions.
The documented record currently assembled for Abraham Salman includes the following: Blinded in early childhood, he studied music at Baghdad’s school for blind children and became a virtuoso qanun player. After leaving Iraq around 1950, he joined the Arabic orchestra of Israel Radio and performed Iraqi maqam, Arab classical repertoire and other regional music for decades.
This career documents the central role Jewish performers, composers and ensemble leaders played in the formation of modern Iraqi urban music. It also helps explain how Iraqi musical traditions continued after migration through radio, recordings, performance and teaching.
Archive classification: Music & Performance. Recorded life dates/status: 1931–2014.
This profile synthesizes the documentary sources listed below; where the record is limited or contested, the dossier avoids unsupported detail.
Additional documented context
- Blinded in early childhood, he studied music at Baghdad’s school for blind children and became a virtuoso qanun player.
- After leaving Iraq around 1950, he joined the Arabic orchestra of Israel Radio and performed Iraqi maqam, Arab classical repertoire and other regional music for decades.
Documentary references
Additional biographical details are tied to the source records below.
Permanent ID · IJHDA-PER-0022
This biographical figure record is integrated into Discover Jewish Iraq from the Virtual Embassy’s Iraqi Jewish heritage collection.