Fadhéla Dziria

Fadhéla Dziria (in Arabic: فضيلة الدزيرية), real name Fadhéla Madani Bent el-Mahdi (born June 25, 1917 in Algiers, died October 6, 1970 in Algiers) is an Algerian singer specializing in the Hawzi and Aroubi songs. She is one of the leading figures of this music in Algiers. From a young age, Fadhela devoted herself to song, imitating the great Cheikha Yamna Bent el Hadj el Mahdi and later taking up the diva's melodies. She also admired Meriem Fekkaï, who would later help her form her orchestra. In the early 1930s, she hosted Ramadan evenings in Arabic and Kabyle at the Café des Sports. She was discovered during a Radio Alger show by Mohamed Elhabib Hachelaf and Djillali Haddad "Min koul féne chouiya". After a marriage that did not last, the young woman found herself in Paris in 1935, singing in neighborhoods with a high concentration of Maghrebians and more particularly at the cabaret "El Djezaïr". She sang Aâsri (modern) and met Abdelhamid Ababsa who taught her several melodies that were popular at the time. On her return to the country, she hosted wedding parties and Ramadan evenings at the Café des Sports on rue Bruce in the lower Casbah, managed by Hadj Mahfoud. A theatre and variety troupe will take charge of her later and on the advice of her troupe director and under the influence of Mustapha Skandrani and Mustapha Kechkoul, Fadhela Dziria ends up adopting the Algiers style by joining Meriem Fekkaï's group which animated the Algiers party evenings. For her first profe…