Cheikh El Hasnaoui

Biography

Cheikh El Hasnaoui, born July 23, 1910 in Taâzibt, a village in Kabylie in Algeria, is a singer, musician and singer-songwriter.

Orphaned by his mother at two years old, Mohamed Khelouat was raised by his family. The child grew up in the culture of the Zaouias where he attended Timaâmrin, where he learned the Koran and the Arabic language, the script of which he would later use to transcribe his songs. He left his native village around 1930 for the capital Algiers. He then lived on rue Mogador in the Casbah of Algiers and was even part of the Hadj M'hamed El Anka orchestra.

In 1937, on the eve of the Second World War, El Hasnaoui left Algeria for Paris, in the 15th arrondissement. The orph...