Zekija Suman

Zekija Suman, born Zekija Mehurić in 1954, was a Bosnian singer of sevdalinka. She inherited her love of music from her father, Smail Mehurić, who played the saz. She spent her childhood in Tuzla, where she went to music school and played the accordion.

At sixteen, in 1970, she became a soloist of Radio-televizija Sarajevo. Over the years she left dozens of audio and video recordings in its archive, of traditional sevdalinke and of newer songs in the sevdalinka style, and her singing was recorded for television, on the radio, in concert halls and on records.

Music was only half of her working life. For much of it she was a professor of Bosnian language and literature in Tuzla. She was a long-time member of the Fondacija Sevdah, the foundation that works to preserve the sevdalinka, and worked to keep and promote the song through projects and performances across the region. She also spoke up for putting the sevdalinka on the UNESCO list, so that its classical form would be kept: "Maybe it should have happened earlier, but it's not too late yet."

Among the songs she sang are "Kiša pada", "Da sam ptica", "Ah meraka u večeri rane", "Ko ti šćeri pokida đerdane", "Mehmeda je majka karala", "Mujo đogu po Mejdanu voda", "Sejdefu majka budila", "Ne čudim se mraku nit' oblaku", "Oj vesela veselice", "Omer beže", "Pšeničice sitno sjeme" and "Sini jarko sunce sa istoka".

Zekija Suman died in Tuzla on 9 April 2025, at the age of 71. The playlist here gathers the songs from her own YouTube channel.