Profile Text
Adjani in 2010, photo by Prphotos.com
Birth Name: Isabelle Yasmina Adjani
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Date of Birth: 27 June, 1955
Ethnicity: * father – Algerian Kabyle * mother – German
Isabelle Adjani is a French actress and singer. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress twice.
Her father, Mohammed Adjani, was an Algerian Kabyle Muslim, from Iferhounène, Kabylie. Her mother, Emma Augusta “Gusti” (Schweinberger), was a German Catholic, from Bavaria. The two met near the end of WWII, when Mohammed was in the French Army. They married and Emma returned with him to Paris, not speaking a word of French. Isabelle grew up bilingual, speaking French and German fluently, in Gennevilliers, a northwestern suburb of Paris. She has said that her parents used their ethnic and cultural differences against each other in arguments. Her mother asked her father to take “Cherif” as his first name as it sounded more “American.” Emma also used to say that her husband was Turkish because she was ashamed of his Algerian background.
Isabelle has a son with her former partner, cinematographer Bruno Nuytten; and a son, musician Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis , with her former partner, actor Daniel Day-Lewis .
Isabelle has been vocal against anti-immigrant and anti-Algerian feeling in France.
Isabelle’s maternal grandfather was named Albert Schweinberger. Albert was born in Enzisweiler, Bodolz.
Isabelle’s maternal grandmother was named Maria-Theresa Kegel. Maria-Theresa was born in Enzisweiler.
Source: Genealogy of Isabelle Adjani (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://gw.geneanet.org