Djamila Debèche (June 30, 1926 – August 10, 2010), sometimes written Debêche or Debbeche, was French-Algerian

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

writer. She was a pioneering journalist and novelist in Algeria, where she was one of the first women writers of the French colonial period.

Biography

Djamila Debèche was born in 1926 (although some sources place the year of her birth as early as 1910) in

Aïn Oulmene Aïn Oulmene ( ar, عين اولمان; Berber languages, Berber:ⵢⵏⵓⵍⵎⴰⵏ), the classical antiquity, classical Zaraï, is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in Sétif Province, Sétif Wilaya, Province in northEast, -eastern Alge ...

Sétif Sétif ( ar, سطيف, ber, Sṭif) is the capital of the Sétif Province in Algeria. It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is considered the trade capital of the country. It is an inner ci ...

province,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. She was orphaned at two years old and was raised by her grandparents. She was educated in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, where she lived until age 16. In 1942, Debèche began hosting a radio program for women, which was particularly focused on the importance of education for girls. A few years later, in 1946, she published an article on "Muslim Women in Society" in the magazine ''Terre d'Afrique''. The following year, she launched a monthly publication, the feminist magazine ''L’Action'', which ran for 10 issues. As the editor of that magazine, she participated in an international women's conference in Paris in the autumn of 1947. That same year, Debèche published her first novel, ''Leïla, jeune fille d'Algérie'' ("Leïla, Young Girl From Algeria"). The main character, Leïla, is of Saharan origin, but she gets the chance to attend a Catholic girls' school in Algiers and is adopted by a European family, then works as a teacher for young women in southern Algeria. Debèche subsequently published two essays in Algiers: ''Les Musulmans algériens et la scolarisation'' ("Algerian Muslims and Education") in 1950 and ''L'Enseignement de la langue arabe en Algérie et le droit de vote aux femmes algériennes'' ("Arabic Language Education in Algeria and Algerian Women's Right to Vote") in 1951. In addition to her writing, Debèche served as the first president of Algeria's

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. The

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

began in 1954, and Debèche chose to move to France and became a French citizen. However, she worked to maintain cultural exchanges with her community in her home country. In 1955, she debuted her second novel, ''Aziza'', which was published in Algeria. ''Aziza'' won the Prix Roberge from the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 1957. Her next work, an essay titled ''Les grandes étapes de l'évolution féminine en pays d'Islam'' ("The Great Stages of Women's Evolution in an Islamic Country"), was published in France in 1959. Though she was a pioneer among early Algerian women writers in the French colonial period, Debèche slipped into obscurity in her later years. She died in 2010, in Paris.

Selected works

Novels

* 1947: ''Leïla, jeune fille d'Algérie''. * 1955: ''Aziza''. (Received the Prix Roberge from the Académie Française in 1957)

Essays

* 1950: ''Les Musulmans algériens et la scolarisation''. * 1951: ''L'Enseignement de la langue arabe en Algérie et le droit de vote aux femmes algériennes''. * 1959: ''Les grandes étapes de l'évolution féminine en pays d'Islam''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debeche, Djamila 1926 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Algerian women writers Algerian women journalists Algerian journalists Algerian women novelists Algerian novelists Algerian expatriates in France 21st-century Algerian people Algerian writers in French