Mamili, Mihammad

(b Mahabad [Sawj Bulaq], Iran, 1925/6; d Mahabad, 23 Jan 1999). Kurdish singer. He was the last prominent member of a family of singers and began singing at the age of 13. His singing was limited to live performances at weddings and other occasions during much of the rule of the Pahlavi shahs (1925–79), who repeatedly suppressed Kurdish music and culture. The launching of a state-run local radio station in Mahabad in 1955 and the proliferation of cassette recording in the 1960s created a listening public for Mamili and other singers both in Iran and across the border in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Mamili’s repertory of about 700 pieces consists predominantly of goranî, popular songs performed at weddings, in various entertainment settings and on the radio. Like most contemporary urban singers, he drew on rural music as well as on non-Kurdish (especially Azerbaijani) melodies, using lyrics from earlier and contemporary Kurdish poets. Although only a few of his songs are overtly patriotic, he was jailed for six months in 1968 on suspicion of involvement in a Kurdish armed uprising. In the 1990s he suffered from memory loss and the execution of one of his sons by the Islamic government. His death was followed by events throughout Europe commemorating his life and work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

M.H. Ehmed: Bazî bêryan ya jiyan û goranîyekanî Mihemedî Mamilê [The path of milkmaids, or the life and songs of Mihammad Mamili] (Baghdad, 1983)

Zemane, Stran Music STRANCD 001 (1996)

AMIR HASSANPOUR, STEPHEN BLUM