Alice Fitoussi

Alice Fitoussi
Background information
Born(1916-05-09)May 9, 1916
Bordj Bou Arréridj, Algeria
DiedMay 1978(1978-05-00) (aged 61–62)
El Biar, Algeria
GenresAndalusian classical music, hawzii
OccupationsSinger and oud player
LabelsGramophone Records and Polyphon

Alice Fitoussi (May 9, 1916 – 1978) was an Algerian singer and musician, born in Bordj Bou Arréridj, French Algeria. She is known for her songs in the Andalusian and hawzii style during Algeria's pre-independence period.

Life and career

Fitoussi was the daughter of Rahmim Fitoussi, an Algerian Jewish singer and violinist, and she learned her craft from him. She released her first record at the age of thirteen.

During the early twentieth century in Algeria and the Maghreb region, music was a multicultural affair, with Jewish and Muslim musicians sharing a long musical history. Women were increasingly present in this musical community but were often seen as not acceptable by conservative parts of the Muslim population. Jewish women like Fitoussi and her peers, such as Reinette L'Oranaise, were not subject to as much gender-based discrimination as Muslim female singers at the time.

Fitoussi often performed with Muslim musicians and for Muslim compatriots. Responding to conservative Muslim attitudes, she employed an all-female accompanying orchestra when performing for Muslim women, and performed only with males when the audience consisted of Muslim men. Notably, she is said to have been the only Jewish singer of the period who performed Medh, poetic songs in honor of the Prophet Mohammed for a Muslim audience. After independence in 1962, Fitoussi was one of the few Algerian Jewish musicians who continued to live in Algeria.

In 2006, some of her recordings were re-released as part of the Trésors de la Chanson Judéo-Arabe (Treasures of Jewish-Arab song) series from Mélodie Distribution.

References

  1. ↑ Gottreich, Emily Benichou; Schroeter, Daniel J., eds. (2011). Jewish Culture and Society in North Africa. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253001467.
  2. ↑ Glasser, Jonathan (2016). The Lost Paradise: Andalusi Music in Urban North Africa. University of Chicago Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780226327372.
  3. 1 2 Langlois, Tony (2015). "Jewish Musicians in the Musique Orientale of Oran, Algeria". In Davis, Ruth F. (ed.). Musical Exodus: Al-Andalus and Its Jewish Diasporas. Scarecrow Press. p. 155. ISBN 9780810881761.
  4. ↑ "A Jukebox of Jewish-Arabic Music". PBS Frontline/World.
  5. ↑ Silver, Christopher (28 June 2019). "Alice Fitoussi – Ya msalmin kalbi – Polyphon – 1933". gharamophone.com. Retrieved 2026-08-22.