Zohra Al Fassiya

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Zohra Al Fassiya
زهرة الفاسية
Born1905
Moroccan music
Occupation(s)Singer

Zohra Al Fassiya (

Moroccan singer and poet.[1] Considered as the queen of the melhoun and gharnati genres, and one of the pioneers of modern Arabic music, she was the first female recording artist in Morocco,[2] and her songs were widely celebrated throughout Morocco and Algeria, where she collaborated with lyricists and musicians from Oran and Tlemcen. Although her songs were mostly secular in nature (being the popular music of the time in Morocco), many of the melodies have later been modified to be fit religious Jewish liturgical songs (called piyyutim) as well.[2]

Born in

Algerian Jews
in the 19th century), as well as Malhun, which are long Moroccan poems.

During the 1940s, she had her own orchestra and started to write her own songs. She was heavily aired on radio stations, both in Morocco and Algeria, and was extremely well known and loved by the public. Al Fassiya's Jewish identity was not considered to be problematic in Morocco during the height of her fame. In fact, the King of Morocco, Mohammed V, was so impressed by her voice that he invited her to sing at his court.[3] Al Fassiya also worked with other artists such as Samy Elmaghribi, who wrote some of her songs. She released more than 17 albums between the years 1947-1957 .

In 1962, following many fellow

Israeli-Moroccan poet Erez Biton, who visited her when he was employed as a social worker, was so moved by her fate that he dedicated a poem to her story; this poem has now been added to the national school curriculum in Israel, and serves as a centrepiece in discussion of the state's harsh Westernization policies in the 20th century.[3]

In her last years, Zohra Al Fassiya lived in a nursing home in Ashkelon. She died at age 89 in 1994 and was buried there.

References

  1. ^ "Big in Tetouan: The Jewish women who pioneered modern Arab music".
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-5015-0463-1
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-317-38321-5
    .
  4. ^ "Anti-Mizrahi discrimination was official Israeli policy". +972 Magazine. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  5. ^ Marrakech, Medina (28 February 2018). "Israelis Embrace Their Moroccan Cultural Roots". Hadassah Magazine. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
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