Moufdi Zakaria

Moufdi Zakaria (born Zekri Cheikh; 12 June 1908 – 17 August 1977) was an Algerian activist, poet and writer. He wrote "Kassaman", the Algerian national anthem while in prison in 1955.

Moufdi Zakaria
مفدي زكرياء
Born
Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Yahia Ben Cheikh Slimane Ben Hadj Aissa

12 June 1908
Ghardaïa, French Algeria
Died17 August 1977(1977-08-17) (aged 69)
Tunis, Tunisia
NationalityAlgerian
OccupationPoet, writer
Known forAuthor of the Algerian national anthem
Poet of the Algerian Revolution

Biography

Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Yahia Ben Cheikh Slimane Ben Hadj Aissa was born on 12 June 1908. He was given the nickname of Moufdi by a school friend. He was born and attended school in the M'zab region of Algeria.

He became associated with Algerian nationalists and served time in prison for his beliefs in 1937 and 1938.

In 1955 he was imprisoned in Serkadji prison by the French for his politics. There he wrote a poem called Qassaman or The Pledge.[1] It was said that he wrote the poem on the walls of his cell using his own blood because he had neither pencils nor paper to write in the prison.[2] The poem was later set to music by Mohamed Triki in 1956 and then by Mohamed Fawzi. The final song was heard in 1957. This poem became the Algerian national anthem[3] shortly after 5 July 1962 when independence was achieved.

Zakaria died in 1977 in Tunisia but his body was buried in Algeria.


His Poetry

His university education was in Tunis where he met a number of poets including Kasman. His first poetry was published in a Tunisian newspaper in 1925.

Moufdi Zakaria uses implied texts in his poems through which readers can get different reflections from his poems. Quran is one of the implied texts in his works and it is strongly present in his works.[4]

His poetry was believed to be largely influenced by the work of Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi.[5]

Legacy

Zakaria left his poetry and the words to Algeria's national anthem. He has postage stamps issued in his honour and Noumérat – Moufdi Zakaria Airport in Ghardaïa, Algeria is named in his honour.[6] His name was also given to cultural centre built in 1984.[7]

Portrayals in film

"Moufdi Zakaria, the Poet of the Revolution," by director Said Oulmi, 2012.[8]


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References
  1. Historical Background Archived 29 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Algeria-UN.org, accessed March 2010
  2. ""Kassaman," anthem to the glory of Algerian Revolution". Algeria Press Service. 5 July 2012. ProQuest 1024162031.
  3. According to the Algerian Constitution of 1963, Article 75.
  4. Dr. Yusuf el-Ayip (15 June 2016). "Mechanism for Evoking the Quranic Text and Its Connotations in Moufdi Zakaria's Poems".
  5. Poetry Letters Magazine, Issue No.4, October 2015, pp.58-66 (Arabic)
  6. (in French) AIP and Chart for Aéroport de Ghardaïa / Noumérat – Moufdi Zakaria (DAUG) from Service d'Information Aéronautique – Algerie
  7. "Palais de la Culture Moufdi Zakaria".
  8. ""Moufdi Zakaria, Poet of the Revolution," screened in Paris". Algeria Press Service. 20 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018.
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