Warda Al-Jazairia (; born Warda Mohammed Ftouki (); 22 July 1939 – 17 May 2012) was an Algerian singer. She was well known for her Egyptian Arabic songs and music. Her name was sometimes shortened to just Warda ( meaning "flower") or as "The Algerian flower" in the Arab world. Early life Warda Ftouki was born in Paris on July 22, 1939. Her father, Mohammed Ftouki, was an Algerian from Souk Ahras, and her mother was Lebanese. She was the youngest of five children. Warda began singing in the 1950s. She made her debut at the Tam-Tam, a cabaret owned by her father Located on rue Saint-Séverin, in the Latin Quarter, it is home to many famous stars of Arabic song, such as Safia Chamia and Farid El Atrache. The TAM-TAM: Warda's first stage Mohammed Ftouki opened the in 1951 anagram of "Tunisia - Algeria - Morocco", at a time when several other establishments of the kind appeared such as El Djazaïr, El Koutoubia, Baghdad... An establishment which had quickly become very successful. Farid al-Atrash had sung there. Salim Al Hillali, the other souk-ahrassien, had sung there every night for years. Receptacles and laboratories of modern Arab singers, these cabarets are also meeting places for the diasporas where ideas circulate, genuine places of expression of thought. Thus, during the War of Liberation, the Tam-Tam became a secret address of the French Federation of the FLN, as a cache of weapons. Indeed, "Le Tam-Tam" was linked to the headquarters of the MTLD, the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Freedoms, the political party for Algerian independence. The cabaret adjoined the MTLD headquarters and was under police surveillance. Mohammed Ftouki was subsequently denounced and imprisoned. Following his release, he went into exile in Beirut with his family and devoted himself to the artistic training of his children, in particular Warda and Messaoud, a percussionist and composer. Both Warda and her brother's talents thrived thanks to the devoted efforts of their father. Mohammed Ftouki died in Cairo in 1961 where he is buried. Career Career beginnings At the age of 11, Warda sang in a show hosted by Ahmed Hachlaf, which was broadcast on Paris Inter. In 1950, she recorded her first record for Pathé-Marconi. In 1956, after the outbreak of the Algerian war, weapons intended for the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front) were discovered by the police in her father's cabaret. The