Cherif Kheddam was born in 1928 in Bou Messaoud (near Aïn el Hammam), in the mountains of Haute Kabylie, and has been one of the Maghreb's greatest poets and composers for over twenty-five years. He has remained faithful to the land of his ancestors, through all it's dramas, vicissitudes and upheavals, including exile to France after the liberation, and the tragic events that followed. He remained in France until the day after Algerian independence. I don't have my own history," he replied to a questioner, "it's identical to that of my people. I sing of my people, I come from them, they are my source, and it is to them that I dedicate my work.