Warda Al-Jazairia

Warda Al-Jazairia (وردة الجزائرية; born Warda Mohammed Ftouki (وردة محمد فتوكي); 22 July 1939 – 17 May 2012) was an Algerian singer.

She was well known for her Egyptian Arabic songs and music.

Her name was sometimes shortened to just Warda ( meaning "rose") or as "The Algerian rose" in the Arab world.

Warda Ftouki was born in Paris on July 22, 1939.

Her father, Mohammed Ftouki, was an Algerian from Souk Ahras, and her mother was Lebanese.

She was the youngest of five children.

Warda began singing in the 1950s.

She made her debut at the Tam-Tam, a cabaret owned by her father Located on rue Saint-Séverin, in the Latin Quarter, it is home to many famous stars of Arabic song, such as Safia Chamia and Farid El Atrache.

In 1950, she recorded her first record for Pathé-Marconi.

Mohammed Ftouki opened the Tam-Tam (cabaret) in 1951 acrostic of "Tunisia - Algeria - Morocco", at a time when several other establishments of the kind appeared such as El Djazaïr, El Koutoubia, Baghdad...

An establishment which had quickly become very successful.

Farid al-Atrash had sung there.

Salim Al Hillali, the other souk-ahrassien, had sung there every night for years.

Receptacles and laboratories of modern Arab singers, these cabarets are also meeting places for the diasporas where ideas circulate, genuine places of expression of thought.

Thus, during the War of Liberation, the Tam-Tam became a secret address of the French Federation of the FLN, as a cache of weapons.

Indeed, "Le Tam-Tam" was linked to the headquarters of the MTLD, the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Freedoms, the political party for Algerian independence.

The cabaret adjoined the MTLD headquarters and was under police surveillance.

Mohammed Ftouki was subsequently denounced and imprisoned.

Following his release, he went into exile in Beirut with his family and devoted himself to the artistic training of his children, in particular Warda and Messaoud, a percussionist and composer.

Both Warda and her brother's talents thrived thanks to the devoted efforts of their father.

In 1956, after the outbreak of the Algerian war, weapons intended for the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front) were discovered by the police in her father's cabaret.

The establishment was closed, and their family expelled.

They made plans to move to Hamra, a district of Beirut known for its nightlife.

However, her mother died before they could arrive.

Warda sang in Beirut's cabarets.

In 1959, at a casino in Aley, she met the composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab, who taught her the art of classical singing and adapted the poet Ahmed Shawqi's qasida "Bi-Omri Kullo Habbitak" for her.

This led to her introduction to the Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who suggested that she be cast in a pan-Arab opera and perform the song "Al Watan Al Akbar" by Mohammed Abdel Wahab.

Warda recorded it, as did other singers such as Abdel Halim Hafez and Fayza Ahmed.

The Egyptian director of musicals, Helmy Rafla, signed her to a contract, enabling her to pursue a musical and film career in Egypt.

She appeared in two of Rafla's films, "Almaz We Abdo El-Hamouly" and "Amirat al-Arab."

Mohammed Ftouki died in Cairo in 1961 where he is buried.

At the age of 11, Warda sang in a show hosted by Ahmed Hachlaf, which was broadcast on Paris Inter.

Warda's father died in 1961.

After independence, she went to Algeria for the first time and married an officer who forbade her to sing.

She took a ten-year hiatus from music, instead choosing to raise her children.

She had a daughter named Widad and a son named Riad, who was named after the composer Riad Al Sunbati.

In 1972, at the request of Algerian president Houari Boumédiène, Warda took part in the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Algeria's independence by performing in Algiers with an Egyptian orchestra.

Following that performance, Warda and her husband divorced by mutual consent, and she decided to resume her career.

She returned permanently to Egypt, where she married the composer Baligh Hamdi.

She enjoyed great popularity and had the opportunity to work with the greatest Arab composers, such as Helmi Bakr, Riad Al Sunbati, Sadok Thraya, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Mohammed Al-Mougi, and Sayed Mekawy.