Abdallah Laroui ( ar, عبدالله العروي; born 7 November 1933) is a
Moroccan philosopher, historian, and novelist. Besides some works in French, his philosophical project has been written mostly in Arabic. He is among the most read and discussed Arab and Moroccan philosophers.
Biography
Laroui was born in 1933 in
Azemmour
Azemmour or Azammur ( ar, أزمور, azammūr; ber, ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ, azemmur, lit=wild olive tree) is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River, 75 km southwest of Casablanca.
Etymo ...
. His mother died when he was two. He studied at the ''
kuttab
A kuttab ( ar, كُتَّاب ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab ( ar, مَكْتَب) is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, a ...
'' before entering the public primary school at seven, where he studied from 1941 to 1945. In 1945, he obtained a grant to study at the College Sidi Mohammed in Marrakesh, where he stayed five years. Afterwards he studied at
Lycée Lyautey
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
in Casablanca from 1949 to 1951 and at
Lycée Gouraud in Rabat from 1951 to 1953. He obtained his
baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...
in 1953, and then studied history and economics, at the
Institut d'Études Politiques
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
in Paris, where he studied under and
Raymond Aron
Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century.
Aron is best known for his 19 ...
. In 1958, he obtained a ''Diplôme d'études supérieures.'' After receiving his ''
agrégation'' in Islamic studies in June 1963, he was appointed as an assistant professor of history at the
Mohammed V University
Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez.
History
The uni ...
in Rabat. In 1976, he defended his
Doctorat d'Etat with a thesis titled "''Les Origines sociales et culturelles du nationalisme marocain, 1830–1912''" (Social and Cultural Origins of Moroccan Nationalism, 1830–1912) and published it in 1977. Laroui taught at the
University Mohammed V until 2000. He has written five novels (o.a. L'Exil (Sindbad-Actes Sud, 1998)).
Historian
Albert Hourani
Albert Habib Hourani ( ar, ألبرت حبيب حوراني ''Albart Ḥabīb Ḥūrānī''; 31 March 1915 – 17 January 1993) was a Lebanese British historian, specialising in the history of the Middle East and Middle Eastern studies.
Back ...
describes him as a significant Arab thinker of the post-1967 era.
[ Hourani, Albert. "A Disturbance of Spirits (since 1967." In ''A History of the Arab Peoples.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belnap Press of Harvard University Press, 1991. ] Laroui's philosophy was guided by a
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
reading of
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
and a commitment to radical critique of culture, language, and tradition.
[ Hourani, Albert. "A Disturbance of Spirits (since 1967." In ''A History of the Arab Peoples.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belnap Press of Harvard University Press, 1991. ]
Awards and honors
* In 2000, he was awarded the ''Premi Internacional Catalunya'' (Catalonia International Prize).
* In 2017, he was awarded the
Sheikh Zayed Book Award
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award begun in the UAE. It is presented yearly to "Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab ...
for "Cultural Personality of the Year",
the premier category with a prize of 1 million dirhams.
Partial bibliography
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See also
*
Abdelwahab Benmansour
References
External links
* . Lecture by Abdallah Laroui, Fulbright 50th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow, (Lecture delivered at the Middle East Studies Association annual meeting in Providence, RI).
Moroccan writers in French
20th-century Moroccan historians
Moroccan novelists
Moroccan male writers
Male novelists
1933 births
Living people
People from Azemmour
Moroccan editors
Moroccan male journalists
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