Dania Ben Sassi,

Tamazight The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight,, ber, label=Tuareg Tifinagh, ⵜⵎⵣⵗⵜ, ) are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related languages spoken by Berber communi ...

: Danya At Sasi,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: دانيا بن ساسي (born 1998) is a

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

Amazigh , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

singer whose music went viral during the

First Libyan Civil War The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libya ...

, due to the fact her music praises Amazigh resistance and are sung in Tamazight.

Early life

Dania Ben Sassi was born in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

in 1998, to a Libyan father from

Zuwarah Zuwarah, or Zuwara or Zwara (Berber language: At Willul or Zwara, ) is a coastal Berber-speaking city in Libya. Zuwara or At Willul is famous for its beaches and seafood. It is situated west of Tripoli and from the Tunisian border. It is the ...

and a Serbian mother. Her father had been forced into exile in Serbia, after fleeing the

Gaddafi regime Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comma ...

due to his activism for Libyan Berber rights. She is fluent in Serbian and Libyan Tamazight and can write

Tifinagh Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuar ...

. She studied Economics at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...

Musical career

Ben Sassi's music is inspired by the

Amazighs , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

of Libya and their resistance to cultural assimilation. The majority of her music and lyrics are written by her father, who is also her manager. His activist influence is clear, since Ben Sassi's music anchors Amazigh identity in Libya and demands that the Amazigh language be recognised by the Libyan constitution. Tamazight was severely repressed in Libya when Gaddafi was in power. It is due to the circulation of her songs on the internet that she became an icon during the democratic uprisings that preceded the First Libyan Civil War. The singer has been described as "the swallow of the Libyan Amazigh spring" by the writer Lhoussain Azergui. Amazigh history has inspired much of Ben Sassi's music, for example: Numidya (Numidia), which takes the name of the Numidian Berber kingdom. In 2011 Ben Sassi released her song 'The Revolutionary Our Star' in Tamazight, which according to the political researcher Nadine Schnelzer "is remarkable in itself". The fact the song, and her music more generally praises the sacrifices made by the Libyans during the revolution, explains why she has become an icon of the Libyan Amazigh movement. Her music also addresses issues of gender facing Libyan and Amazigh communities. In 2013 she performed on French television, on a programme on France 2 entitled 'The Night of Ramadan'.

Discography

* Tidet/ The Truth - تيدت - ⵜⵉⴷⴻⵜ * Agrawli Itri nnegh/The Revolutionary Our star - أكًراولي إثري نًغ - ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵡⵍⵉ ⵉⵜⵔⵉ ⵏⴻⵖ * Numidya - نوميديا - ⵏⵓⵎⵉⴷⵉⵢⴰ * Abrid n Tilelli/The Path to Freedome - أبريد ن تينللي - ⴰⴱⵔⵉⴷ ⵏ ⵜⵉⵍⴻⵍⵍⵉ * Sfeḍ imeṭṭawen-im a weltma/Wipe away your tears my sister - سفض يمطًاون إم ا ولتما

References

External links

* Dania Ben Sassi
Agrawli itri negh (LIVE Tripoli 2013)

Dania Ben Sassi & Idir, Avava Inuva, Concert au parc de Vincennes, 29 Septembre 2013

10 Libyan Songs to Kick Back and Listen To
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Sassi, Dania 1998 births Living people People from Belgrade Berber musicians 21st-century Libyan women singers