Zohra Al Fassiya ( ar, زهرة الفاسية, he, זוהרה אלפסיה) was a
Moroccan singer and poet. Considered as the queen of the
melhoun and
gharnati
Gharnati (Arabic: الغرناطي) refers to an Algerian variety of Andalusian classical music originating in Tlemcen. Its name is derived from the Arabic name of the city of Granada. Gharnati has also become an established tradition in other ...
genres, and one of the pioneers of modern Arabic music, she was the first female recording artist in Morocco,
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.
Born in
Sefrou
Sefrou is a city in central Morocco situated in the Fès-Meknès region. It recorded a population of 79,887 in the 2014 Moroccan census, up from 63,872 in the 2004 census.
Sefrou is known for its historical Jewish population, and its annual cherr ...
, near
Fez
Fez most often refers to:
* Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire
* Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco
Fez or FEZ may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
, at the feet of the mountains of Atlas in a modest
Moroccan Jewish
Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...
family, she started to sing at a very early age when she performed religious songs at her synagogue. During her youth, she started to sing in coffee houses and cabarets near towns and in
Casablanca. Her songs were mostly secular gharnati songs (
Andalusian Arabic
Andalusi Arabic (), also known as Andalusian Arabic, was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken mainly from the 9th to the 17th century in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) once under Muslim rule. It b ...
songs originally from
Granada, Spain, and very popular among the Muslims of Andalusian background and
Moroccan and
Algerian Jews
The History of the Jews in Algeria refers to the history of the Jewish community of Algeria, which dates to the 1st century CE. In the 15th century, many Spanish Jews fled to the Maghreb, including today's Algeria, following expulsion from Spai ...
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
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
,
Mohammed V, was so impressed by her voice that he invited her to sing at his court.
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
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained ...
who fled Arab countries due to mounting persecution following the establishment of the
State of Israel, Al Fassiya
immigrated to Israel. However, despite her superstar status in Morocco and North Africa, Al Fassiya's talent went unrecognized in Israel outside of the Moroccan immigrant community, as the state-run media and cultural institutions preferred to promote Western sounding music. As with many
Mizrahi
''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings.
In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to:
*Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East
* Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...
/
Sephardi Jewish immigrants (Jews from Arab and Islamic countries), Al Fassiya faced discrimination in Israel,
and she came to live in miserable and lonely conditions in
Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border wit ...
. Despite this humiliating fate, Al Fassiya was often invited to sing at private celebrations (such as weddings) in the Moroccan community in Israel.
Israeli
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli ...
-
Moroccan poet
Erez Biton
Erez Biton ( he, ארז ביטון; born 1942 in Oran, Algeria) is an Algerian-born Israeli poet of Moroccan descent. He is the 2015 recipient of the Israel Prize for Hebrew Literature and Poetry, among other literary awards.
Biography
Erez Bit ...
, 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.
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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fassiya, Zohra
1905 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Moroccan women singers
Moroccan emigrants to Israel
20th-century Moroccan Jews
People from Sefrou
20th-century Israeli women singers