Ramses Shaffy

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Dutch singer, song writer and actor. A bard for many, a spiritual seeker all of his life, who ended with Korsakov disease. His father Ramses Chaffy Bey (27 Juni 1890- 1984) was an Egyptian diplomat. His mother Alexandra de Wysocka was a Polish-Russian countess and pianist. He grew up with his mother in Cannes. She believed she was a heiress of the rich Romanov's family. When she suffered from tuberculosis, Shaffy at age 6 then, was sent to an aunt in Utrecht. He wrote the melancholic song "De Trein Naar Het Noorden" (the train to the North) about it. Eventually, he ended up in a taking care of him foster family in Leiden. He later would find his soul-mate in the orphan and Dutch chanson singer Liesbeth List. Although he did not finish high school, he was accepted at the Amsterdam school of theatre arts (1952). In 1955 he made his début as an actor with the Dutch comedy (Nederlandse Comedie). In the "La Dolce vita" year 1960 he went to Rome with his male lover, the actor Joop Admiraal. They hoped to become international actors, but it became a fiasco. In 1964 he founded the theatre group Shaffy Chantant, where he met the singer Liesbeth List. In 1968 they recorded the classic song "Pastorale" in which he portrayed the sun and List the moon. The song written by Lennaert Nijgh and Boudewijn de Groot was released 27 September 1969. He also worked with Jazz pianist Louis van Dijk (We zullen doorgaan, 1972) and Focus flautist Thijs van Leer (The shrine of God, 1970). The rumour goes that Shaffy was in love with Thijs van Leer and was impressed by the teachings of Van Leer's Sufi mother. In the 1980s, Shaffy returned to stage and became again an actor. He played Don Quixote in the Dutch version of Mitch Leigh's musical "Man of La Mancha" (1993). In the eighties, he also went to Poona, to become a follower of the Bhagwan. He stopped his habit of heavy drinking, but not for long. Because of heavy alcohol abuse, he had to move to a resting home, suffering from early Korsakoff disease. End 2005 he re-recorded his 1978 hit song "Laat me" (Let me, let me, I have always done this in this way) with the also as as star (re)born orphan Liesbeth List. On 5 May 2009 it was announced that he suffered from incurable oesophageal cancer. On 27 November 2009 he still played the piano in the Sint Laurenskerk at Rotterdam. It was the last performance of the as #99 in the top 100 Hundred of famous Dutch people ranked singer. On 1 December 2009 he died of oesophageal cancer. His audience honoured him as a prominent, but also fragile, Promethusian Dutch tragic bard, in the Royal Carré Theatre. On 11 January 2014 the AVRO broadcasted the first part of a four part drama about his life and ambitions on Dutch television. Link to Wikipedia