Salah El Mahdi

Salah El Mahdi (; born Mohamed Ibn Abderrahmane Ben Salah Mehdi Chérifi on February 9, 1925, in Tunis and died September 12, 2014, in Tunis ) was a Tunisian musicologist, conductor, composer, flautist, music critic and judge. Biography Born in Tunis in 1925, he graduated from University of Ez-Zitouna in 1941 and then at the law school and National School of Administration. He obtained a Ph.D. in musicology in 1981 and a doctorate in letters at the University of Poitiers. At the age of 18 he left the capital of Tunis to La Marsa and gave music lessons to students. In 1949, he became director of the institution and ensemble there and was appointed honorary member of the SACEM. He was appointed as a judge on November 11, 1951, while assuming the job of music critic in several newspapers. In theater, he performed several roles with the troupe El Kaoukab of Tunis, and wrote plays for radio. In 1961, he was appointed to the Secretariat of State for Culture and information. He helped establish the National Folk Arts Troupe (1962), the Tunisian Symphony Orchestra (1969), the National Society of Preservation of the Quran and the National School of Chanting the Koran. In 1982, he became gene