Fadhéla Dziria

Fadhéla Dziria, officially Fadhéla Madani Bent el-Mahdi (25 Jun 1917 – 6 October 1970) was an Algerian singer in the Hawzi style of Andalusian classical music. Her first name is also seen as Fadila, Fadhila, or Fadela, and her chosen last name as Dziriya. Dziria means Algerian--so she was, professionally, "Fadhéla the Algerian".

Fadhéla Dziria

Career

Fadhéla Dziria was born in Algiers,[1] the daughter of Mehdi Ben Abderrahmane and Fettouma Khelfaoui. She was first heard singing on the radio in Algeria. In the 1930s, she was a young cabaret singer in Paris. She returned to Algeria, and sang at the Cafe des Sports. She began making recordings in the 1940s, mostly of traditional folk songs. She toured to sing in other cities, and appeared in films. Later in her career, she was also seen on television.[2]

She raised funds for political causes with her more militant sister, Goucem Madani (1918-1983), and served time in prison for her activism.[3] The sisters had a band with Sultana Daoud.[4]

Fadhéla Dziria is said to have been an important influence on Saloua, another Algerian traditional singer.[5] She also provided early opportunities for singer-songwriter Biyouna, who played the tambourine in Dziria's all-female orchestra as a young woman.[6]

Personal life

Fadhéla Madani was married for a short time at age 13. She died in 1970, aged 53 years. Her gravesite is in El Kettar Cemetery.[2]

Legacy

In 2009, an amphitheater at the National Institute of Music in Algiers was named for Dziria. An annual national music festival is held there.[7] In 2010 there was a gathering of musicians in Algiers to mark the fortieth anniversary of her death, and to open a photography exhibition based on her music.[8]

In 1999, the song "Dziria" by the Algerian hip-hop band MBS sampled Fadila Dziria's 1951 recording of "Ana Touiri".[9]

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References
  1. "The Diva of Algiers Song, Fadhela Dziria" Mediterranean Memory (1991).
  2. "Meriem Fekkai et Fadila Dziria" Chouf-Chouf (4 September 2014).
  3. Djamila Amrane, Des femmes dans la guerre d'Algérie: entretiens (Karthala Editions 1994): 152. ISBN 9782865375103
  4. S. L. "Bientôt un feuilleton sur la vie de Fadila Dziria" InfoSoir (6 November 2013).
  5. Phillip C. Naylor, Historical Dictionary of Algeria (Rowman & Littlefield 2015): 400. ISBN 9780810879195
  6. "Biography of Baya Bouzar" Archived 2017-10-29 at the Wayback Machine African Success (2010).
  7. "Algeria's Chaabi Music Festival Wraps Up" Xinhua Net (12 August 2012).
  8. "Music: Fadhila Dziria, The Everlasting Nightingale" El Moudjahid (28 November 2010).
  9. MBS, WhoSampled: Exploring the DNA of Music.
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