Senait Ghebrehiwet Mehari is an

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

n-born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

singer. She goes professionally by her single name "Senait". She is also known as Senait Mehari, although this is a common understanding and is due to the Europeanization of an Eritrean naming convention.

Biography

She was born in Asmera, Eritrea, on 3 December 1974 (exact year is unknown, it may be some years earlier or later) to an Eritrean father and

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 ...

n mother. When she was six years old, her father sent her and her two elder half-sisters to the

Eritrean Liberation Front ar, جبهة التحرير الإريترية it, Fronte di Liberazione Eritreo , war = the Ethiopian Civil War, Eritrean War of Independence and the Eritrean Civil Wars , image = , caption = Flag of the ELF ...

as "Students of the Revolution". Three years later her uncle took the three girls to

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, where they lived with him for three years. When Senait was twelve years old, her father, who emigrated to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, sent for them writing songs around this time. She also wrote a sequel, ''Wüstenlied'' („Desert Song”), about her visit to Eritrea. It was published in May 2006. She released her first album, ''Mein Weg'' („My Way”) on November 11, 2005. The first single ''Hey Du'' („Hey, You”) is a romantic song. The theme of the album is autobiographical –the song ''Wenn die Nacht'' („When the Night”)- is about her dead grandmother; ''Kap Gheza'' is about a child who feels unloved, and ''Libbey'' is a love story. Her autobiography ''Feuerherz'' ("Heart of Fire") was published in 2004. In February 2007, the 'Zapp' TV show on Germany's NDR channel accused Senait of fabricating some of its contents, notably that she served as a child soldier in Eritrea. She denies the allegations. The book has been translated into several languages. A homonyme

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

has been released in 2009.

Music career

She worked as a songwriter and background singer before launching her own career. Inside Germany her singles Leben/Aura became big hits in Germany in 2001. Aura was re-released early 2005 in new versions before of the release of her album. A nice tune, called Hiwet is available from her website ''feuerherz''.http://www.feuerherz.com/feuerherz/index2.htm Her song ''Herz aus Eis'' ("Heart of Ice") placed fourth in the German preselection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

of 2003.

Personal life

Senait is now living in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

References

External links

Mehari's official homepage

Official website to her book
{{Authority control German autobiographers German pop singers Musicians from Berlin 1974 births Living people People from Asmara 21st-century Eritrean women singers Eritrean emigrants to Germany 21st-century German women singers