Maurice El Médiouni, French El Médioni (Arabic: مــوريــس الــمــديــونــي, 18 October 1928 – 25 March 2024) was an Algerian pianist, composer and interpreter of Andalusian, Raï, Sephardic and Arab music. He was one of the few living artists to have performed with artists such as Lili Labassi, Line Monty, Lili Boniche, Samy el Maghribi, and Reinette l’Oranaise. He was also a professional tailor and initially took up music as a hobby.
Biography
Maurice El Médiouni was born in the Jewish quarter of Oran, Algeria on 18 October 1928, into a family of musicians. His uncle was the celebrated Messaoud El Mediouni, "Saoud l'Oranais" who died at the Sobibor extermination camp.[1] He is sometimes regarded as the grandfather of Algerian pop music.[2][3][4]
Following the Algerian War of Independence, he moved to Paris, France, where he worked as a tailor as well as occasionally backing Jewish singers, and then in 1967 to Marseilles where he opened a clothing factory and took a break from his musical career, which he resumed in the 1980s. In his later years, he was based in France and Israel, and could be caught live-performing solo or with other Arab-French and Jewish-French artists, such as Mahmoud Fadl, the Klezmatics, as well as playing alongside musicians who had originally accompanied him nearly half a century earlier in Algeria and France.[5]
His memoir, From Oran to Marseille, edited by Max Reinhardt and translated by Jonathan Walton, was published by Repeater Books in 2017.[6]
El Médiouni was married to Juliette Amsellem until her death in 2022, and had three children.[7] He died at a care home in Herzliya, Israel, on 25 March 2024, at the age of 95.[7][8][9]
References
^Rebecca L. Stein, Ted Swedenburg Palestine, Israel, And The Politics Of Popular CulturePage 254 2005 "El Medioni, who was the master of the next generation of Algerian Jewish artists from Oran, including Reinette l'Oranaise and Lili Boniche, and was the uncle of Maurice El Medioni, met his end at Sobibor concentration camp (Poland) in ..."
^Frank Tenaille, Le raï: de la bâtardise à la reconnaissance internationale 2002 "Maurice Medioni se rattache à cette lignée d'artistes juifs algériens qui perpétuèrent le classique andalou et dont les figures de proue furent Cheikh Raymond Leyris ou son oncle, Messaoud el-Medioni, dit Saoud l'Oranais, oudiste-chef ..."
^Los Angeles Magazine - Aug 2003 - Page 208 "Maurice El Medioni Aug. 20. The grandfather of Algerian pop music spans the Arab and Jewish communities."
^Alliance israélite universelle 1999 "Maurice Medioni, pianiste talentueux qui se produit maintenant avec Lili Boniche, est présent dans l'orchestre."
