Cairo: “The Gulf”
The National Organization for Cultural Coordination in Egypt included the name of the late artist Warda Al-Jazairia in the “He Lived Here” project, which aims to honor symbols of culture, thought and art in Egypt.
A banner bearing the name of the late great artist topped the gate of Building No. 67 on Abdul Aziz Al Saud Street, in the Manial area in Giza, where Warda spent many years of her life in that building.
Warda Fattouki, known as “Warda Al-Jazairia”, was born in the Latin Quarter in Paris, to an Algerian father and a Lebanese mother. She was known at an early age for the beauty of her voice, which opened the doors to Egyptian radio programs for her in the sixties of the last century, through which she presented many songs by Umm Kulthum and Muhammad. Abdel Wahab and Asmahan, before the Egyptian film producer and director Helmy Rafla gave her the first cinematic lead in the famous film “Almaz and Abdo Al-Hamouli.”
Warda returned to Algeria after its independence from France in 1962, and retired from singing for about 10 years after her marriage, before Algerian President Houari Boumediene asked her to participate in singing in Algeria’s tenth Independence Day celebration, after which Warda traveled to Egypt and got married after separating from her first husband. From the musician Baligh Hamdi, who presented her with a large collection of artistic works.
