Saba Anglana (born November 17, 1970) is a Somali-Italian actress and international singer.

Biography

Saba was born in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

, the capital of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, during the country's socialist period. Her mother was the daughter of an exiled Somali living in neighboring

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Her father was a former commander in the

Italian military The Italian Armed Forces ( it, Forze armate italiane, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's military police and ar ...

, who relocated to Somalia from Italy after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Due to Saba's father's senior martial background with the erstwhile colonial administration, he was regarded by Somalia's then military regime as a possible spy. The Anglanas were subsequently exiled to Italy, when she was still a child. Saba was thereafter raised in Italy, where she later studied at the

Sapienza University The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in Rome. Her Somali roots, however, remained an important focus. She studied the

Somali language Somali (Latin script: ; Wadaad writing, Wadaad: ; Osmanya: 𐒖𐒍 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘 ) is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch. It is spoken as a mother tongue by Somalis in ...

with her mother, particularly the regional dialect of ''Xamar Weyne'', connecting with Somalia through music. Saba is a Muslim.

Career

Saba began her artistic career in the 1990s as an actress on Italian television. In a popular local TV series entitled ''La Squadra'', she played a policewoman of dual Somali-Italian heritage. In 2007, Saba released her first studio album entitled ''Jidka: The Line'', in which she mixes the traditional sounds of her native Somalia with contemporary Italian flourishes.https://www.npr.org/2008/01/29/18487119/sabas-somali-songs-of-hybrid-identity Audio of "Jidka" song

References

External links

The official Website of Saba AnglanaArticle on Saba Anglana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglana, Saba Living people 1970 births 21st-century Somalian women singers Somalian emigrants to Italy People from Mogadishu Sapienza University of Rome alumni Somalian people of Italian descent 21st-century Italian women singers

Biography

Career

See also

References

External links