Dania Ben Sassi,

Tamazight The Berber languages, also known as the Amazigh languages or Tamazight, are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They comprise a group of closely related but mostly mutually unintelligible languages spoken by Berber communities, who ar ...

: Danya At Sasi,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: دانيا بن ساسي (born 1998) is a

Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

Amazigh Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connections are identified by their u ...

singer whose music went viral during the

First Libyan Civil War The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...

, due to the fact her music praises Amazigh resistance and are sung in Tamazight.

Early life

Dania Ben Sassi was born in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in 1998, to a Libyan father from

Zuwarah Zuwarah, Zuwara, or Zwara ( ); () is a coastal city in north-western Libya. Zuwara is primarily inhabited by indigenous Berber people of Libya. The local Berber dialect, known locally as Zuwari, is commonly spoken as a first language by the inh ...

and a Serbian mother. Her father had been forced into exile in Serbia, after fleeing the

Gaddafi regime Muammar Gaddafi became the '' de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. When Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, the Revolutio ...

due to his activism for Libyan Berber rights. She is fluent in Serbian and Libyan Tamazight and can write

Tifinagh Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: ; Neo-Tifinagh: ; Berber Latin alphabet: ; ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifi ...

. She studied economics at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

Musical career

Ben Sassi's music is inspired by the

Amazighs Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

of Libya and their resistance to cultural assimilation. The majority of her music and lyrics are written by her father, who is also her manager. His activist influence is clear, since Ben Sassi's music anchors Amazigh identity in Libya and demands that the Amazigh language be recognised by the Libyan constitution. Tamazight was severely repressed in Libya when Gaddafi was in power. It is due to the circulation of her songs on the internet that she became an icon during the democratic uprisings that preceded the First Libyan Civil War. The singer has been described as "the swallow of the Libyan Amazigh spring" by the writer Lhoussain Azergui. Amazigh history has inspired much of Ben Sassi's music, for example: Numidya (Numidia), which takes the name of the Numidian Berber kingdom. In 2011 Ben Sassi released her song 'The Revolutionary Our Star' in Tamazight, which according to the political researcher Nadine Schnelzer "is remarkable in itself". The fact the song, and her music more generally praises the sacrifices made by the Libyans during the revolution, explains why she has become an icon of the Libyan Amazigh movement. Her music also addresses issues of gender facing Libyan and Amazigh communities. In 2013 she performed on French television, on a programme on France 2 entitled 'The Night of Ramadan'.

Discography

* Tidet/ The Truth - تيدت - ⵜⵉⴷⴻⵜ * Agrawli Itri nnegh/The Revolutionary Our star - أكًراولي إثري نًغ - ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵡⵍⵉ ⵉⵜⵔⵉ ⵏⴻⵖ * Numidya - نوميديا - ⵏⵓⵎⵉⴷⵉⵢⴰ * Abrid n Tilelli/The Path to Freedom - أبريد ن تينللي - ⴰⴱⵔⵉⴷ ⵏ ⵜⵉⵍⴻⵍⵍⵉ * Sfeḍ imeṭṭawen-im a weltma/Wipe away your tears my sister - سفض يمطًاون إم ا ولتما

References

External links

* Dania Ben Sassi
Agrawli itri negh (LIVE Tripoli 2013)

Dania Ben Sassi & Idir, Avava Inuva, Concert au parc de Vincennes, 29 Septembre 2013

10 Libyan Songs to Kick Back and Listen To
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Sassi, Dania 1998 births Living people Musicians from Belgrade Serbian people of Libyan descent Berber musicians 21st-century Libyan women singers Berber-language singers Berber women musicians 21st-century Serbian women singers University of Belgrade alumni