Ferhat Mehenni

Mehenni was born on 5 March 1951 in Illoula Oumalou, Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria. Having graduated from the University of Algiers with a degree in political science, Mehenni made his first steps into the world of music in 1973[3] by winning the Algiers Modern Music Festival's first prize. It was soon after this success that he began his career as a protest singer and political activist. He was notably hostile towards the Algerian government and extremists; this led to him being arrested 13 times, imprisoned for three years, and tortured by government forces.[4] After the Black Spring massacre in Kabylie triggered by the Algerian army killing of a young Kablye man, Massinissa Guermah in detention, he, first, established the MAK, Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia, a political movement calling for the political autonomy in Kabylia. In 2015, the MAK movement passed over from the large autonomy claim to Self-determination.[5] The assassination of his eldest son (Améziane Mehenni) in 2004 is regarded by some as a punishment to his fight for autonomy. Though others suspect it was a case of mistaken identity and that Ferhat was the real target.[3]

• Chants berbères de lutte et d'espoir "Berber songs of struggle and hope" (1983)
• Tuγac n ddkir "Songs of steel, love and liberty" (1994)
• Tuγac n tmes d waman "Songs of Fire and Water" (1996 and 2001)
• I Tmurt n Leqvayel "Hymn to Kabylia" (2002)
• Adekker d usirem "Requiem and Hope" (2004)

Mehenni comes from an oral tradition where the song acts like the newspaper or political speeches in European societies.

Mehenni is primarily a political activist who, living in a society with strong oral traditions, uses music to convey those ideas. It is quite difficult to separate the politician from the singer.

Mehenni is the author of Algérie : La Question Kabyle, published in 2004, in which he explains his ideas about Kabyle nationalism.