Cheikh, or Sheikh, Zouzou, whose real name was Joseph Moise Benganoun, was born in Oran in 1862. Or somewhere else in the province of Ain Témouchent in 1890? There is controversy. According to the first data, he would have lived 110 years, until he died in 1972! According to the second, he died in Nice on March 18th of 1975, at his 85 years old. Which one do you believe? *

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* This is an addendum from day 11th of October. I have received a message on the chat of the website by a person who presents herself as Johanna and she explains: “Cheikh Zouzou was my mom grandpa. His name was Joseph Guenoun ( and not Benguenoun) and he deceived indeed at Nice in 1975 at the age of 85. Thank you for reminding him and his great and unique music and way of playing and singing. Best regards.” As you can imagine, this message is very moving for me. Unluckily, Johanna didn’t leave her data and I have no way of answering to her apart from including this addendum here. Johanna, if you read this, please send me your email to info@mundimapa.com so I will be able to thank you and maybe even to make you some questions and make a new edition of Music Before Shabbat about your grand-grandfather.

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Anyway, what is true is that he was a singer and a violin virtuoso. And as I already mentioned in the chapter dedicated to Saoud L’Oranaise, Zouzou was also trained by that master. He had his own band and was demanded for weddings and celebrations, and that he must have had some acknowledgement as he was recorded by the national television. He is mentioned and the context of the time of his working activity in this post.

The picture is from the blog by Rol Benzaken, the first place where I learn about the story of Saul Bensoussan and the terrible crime.

The lyrics of this song is a poem based on real facts. This story is referred in different sources, and the most complete explanation is a post in Facebook by Dz De Luxe. According to that, in 1888 a tragic event took place in Oran, which was at that time a very cosmopolitan city.

In this picture you see the synagogue from Oran, started to be built in 1879 and converted into a mosque in 1975. It is from JudaicAlgeria, where you can read more about this synagogue.

Oran had been under Spanish control from 1509 to 1708 and from 1732 to 1792. Between 1708 and 1732 it was under the Ottoman Empire. The place was lossing the interest for the Spanish government and the last straw was the earthquake that destroyed the city in 1790. It was again under the Ottomans until 1831, when it would become under the French control. Many Spanish settled in the city then.

So, as Dz De Luxe and other sources (like this) explain, the young Oranese Jew Saul Bensoussan, 20 years old, fell in love with a beautiful Spanish Christian woman by the name of Maria Molina. That was a forbidden love, as they were from different communities, and it lasted two years. During a day of bullfighting in the bullring, Maria Molina saw a beautiful bullfighter from Spain and they both fell in love. When Bensoussan was warned, he mercilessly stabbed Maria Molina out of jealousy, love and rage.

The Chief Rabbi of Oran, Calo, obtained a presidential pardon for him, and Bensoussan was sentenced to life imprisonment in a prison in Cayenne, Guyana. Disgruntled Spaniards invaded the Jewish quarter of Oran, which led to a civil war between the two communities. The French sent soldiers (specifically, the tirailleurs Sénégalais, about whose interesting history you can read more here), to protect the Jews.

The poem was written in Arabic and Hebrew by the Chief Rabbi of Oran to stop extra-community marriages and was first sung by Sheikh Redouane Ben Sari in 1930 followed by Sheikh Zouzou in 1938.

Click the picture for more more by Sheikh Zouzour. I took if from the channel of El Hassar Salim.