Moufdi Zakaria

Moufdi Zakaria مفدي زكريا
Born	12 June 1908 Ghardaïa, Algeria
Died	17 August 1977 Tunis, Tunisia
Nationality	Algerian
Occupation	Poet Writer
Known for	Writing the Algerian national anthem Poet of the Algerian Revolution

Moufdi Zakaria; (born, Zekri Cheikh. Arabic: مفدي زكريا‎), was an Algerian poet and writer. He wrote "Kassaman", the Algerian National anthem whilst in prison in 1955.

Biography

Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Yahia Ben Cheikh Slimane Ben Hadj Aissa was born on June 12, 1908. He was given the nickname of Moufdi by a school friend. He was born and attended school in the M'zab region of Algeria.

His university education was in Tunis where he met a number of poets including Aboul-Qacem Echebbi. His first poetry was published in a Tunisian newspaper in 1925.

He became associated with Algerian nationalists and served time in prison for his beliefs in 1937 and 1938.

In 1956 he was imprisoned in Serkadji prison by the French for his politics. There he wrote a poem called Qassaman or The Pledge^[1]. It was said that he wrote the poem on the walls of his cell using his own blood. The poem was later set to music by Mohamed Triki in 1956 and then by Mohamed Fawzi. The final song was heard in 1957. This poem became the Algerian national anthem^[2] shortly after 5 July 1962 when independence was achieved.

Zakaria died in 1977 in Tunisia but his body was buried in Algeria.

Legacy

Zakaria left his poetry and the words to Algeria's national anthem. He has postage stamps issued in his honour and Noumérat – Moufdi Zakaria Airport in Ghardaïa, Algeria is named in his honour.^[3]

References

1. ^ Historical Background, Algeria-UN.org, accessed March 2010
2. ^ According to the Algerian Constitution of 1963, Article 75.
3. ^ (French) AIP and Chart for Aéroport de Ghardaïa / Noumérat - Moufdi Zakaria (DAUG) from Service d'Information Aéronautique - Algerie

Persondata
Name	Zakaria, Moufdi
Alternative names
Short description	Algerian Natioanl Anthem writer
Date of birth	1908
Place of birth	Ghardaïa ، Algeria
Date of death	1977
Place of death	Tunis