- published: 15 Dec 2014
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Alexander ( /ˈæləksˈændər/) is a common male first name, and less common surname. The most famous is Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros), meaning "defending men" or "protector of men", a compound of the verb "ἀλέξω" (alexō), "to ward off, to avert, to defend" and the noun "ἀνδρός" (andros), genitive of "ἀνήρ" (anēr), "man". It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek (or Indo-European more generally) names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy battle line.
The earliest attested form of the name is the Mycenaean Greek feminine noun a-re-ka-sa-da-ra, (transliterated as Alexandra), written in Linear B syllabic script.
The name was one of the titles ("epithets") given to the Greek goddess Hera and as such is usually taken to mean "one who comes to save warriors". In the Iliad, the character Paris is known also as Alexander. The name's popularity was spread throughout the Greek world by the military conquests of King Alexander III, commonly known as "Alexander the Great". Most later Alexanders in various countries were directly or indirectly named for him.[citation needed]
Alexander Igoryevich Rybak (Russian: Алекса́ндр И́горевич Рыба́к) or in Belarusian Alyaxandr Igaravich Rybak (Аляксандр І́гаравіч Рыбак), born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union is a Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and actor. Representing Norway in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia, Rybak won the contest with 387 points—the highest tally any country has achieved in the history of Eurovision—with "Fairytale", a song he wrote and composed. His debut album, Fairytales, charted in the top 20 in nine European countries, including a No. 1 position in Norway and Russia.
Rybak was born on 13 May 1986, in Minsk, Belarus—which at that time was the Belarusian SSR in the Soviet Union. When he was 4 years old, he and his family moved to Norway. Rybak was baptized and raised in the Orthodox religion. At the age of five, Rybak began to play the piano and the violin. His parents are Natalia Valentinovna Rybak, a classical pianist, and Igor Alexandrovich Rybak, a well-known classical violinist who performs alongside Pinchas Zukerman. He stated "I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my vocation". Rybak bought a new apartment and lives now at Aker Brygge (Oslo, Norway).