El Hadj M'hamed El Anka in Arabic (الحاج محمد العنقة), real name Mohamed Idir Aït Ouarab (in Kabyle: Muḥend Yidir At Waɛrab, in Tifinagh: ⵎⵓⵃⴰⵏⴷ ⵢⵉⴷⵉⵔ ⴰⵜ ⵓⴰⵔⴰⴱ), born in the Casbah of Algiers on the 20 May 1907 in a family from Azeffoun in Greater Kabylia, is a precursor and master of Algerian chaâbi song, died on November 23, 1978. He is the father of Mustapha El Anka, Sid Ali Halo and Abdel Hadi Halo. Hadj El Anka, grew up in a house at 4 rue de Timbouctou, in Casbah of Algiers. Hadj El Anka, also nicknamed “the phoenix”, grew up in a modest family. His father, Mohamed Ben Hadj Saîd, suffering on the day of his birth, had to be replaced by a maternal relative for the declaration to the civil registry, thus a misunderstanding arose regarding the patronymic name of El Anka. He attended three schools successively from 1912 to 1918: a Koranic school at Chikh si Mohand Arezki in Bir Djebba…
