Ismael Urbain, also Ismayl Urbain (born Thomas Urbain, 31 December 1812 – 28 January 1884) was a French journalist and interpreter. Born in Cayenne, French Guiana, Urbain was the illegitimate son of a merchant from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

named Urbain Brue and a free colored woman from French Guiana named Appoline. Ismael, who bore his father's first name as his surname, was brought by him to Marseille when he was eight, and there he received an education. In 1830, his father returned him to French Guiana where he hoped that he would turn to business. However, with the pitiful state of his father's affairs, Urbain wasn't allowed back, and the following year he again returned to Marseille. After having discovered

Saint-Simonianism Saint-Simonianism was a French political, religious and social movement of the first half of the 19th century, inspired by the ideas of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon (1760–1825). Saint-Simon's ideas, expressed largely through a ...

, Urbain took the road to Paris where he became the secretary of

Gustave d'Eichthal Gustave Séligmann d'Eichthal (3 March 1804, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle - 9 April 1886, Paris) was a French writer, publicist, and Hellenist. Life At the age of thirteen he became a convert to Roman Catholicism from Judaism, and when he left the ...

. He was with the Saint-Simonists before embarking with them to the Orient. He took up residence in

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and taught French there until 1836. The year before he left he converted to Islam and took the name Ismael. Back in Paris he worked for a time at

Édouard Charton Édouard Charton (11 May 1807 – 27 February 1890) was an eminent French literary figure who was the founder and, for fifty-five years (1833–88), editor-in-chief of the publication '' Le Magazin pittoresque'', in addition to serving for thi ...

's ''Le Magasin pittoresque'', ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' ( literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has ...

'', ''la Charte de 1839'' and ''la Revue du XIXe siècle''. After learning

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

in Egypt, he obtained the post of

military interpreter An interpreter officer or army interpreter is a commissioned officer of an armed force, who interprets and/or translates to facilitate military operation. Interpreter officers are used extensively in multinational operations in which two or more ...

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

for which he had applied. He served as interpreter to several generals: Bugeaud, Rumilly and Changarnier. In 1840 he married a young Algerian woman with whom he had a daughter in 1843. His vast knowledge and experience of Islam led him to participate in the Algerian administration at a high level. Having become a member of the Governor General's advisory board he took part in most major decisions in Algeria. In 1845, Urbain was summoned to the Ministry of War and he returned to France where his wife was to follow. Unable to conjoin the Muslim family with the French family he resolved to marry his wife before civil status on 20 May 1857; the next day his daughter, who was constantly being teased by her schoolmates at the private school run by Sœurs de la Doctrine Chrétienne in

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

, was baptized. This act, however, was not enough to appease the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

community, made up of Spaniards, Maltese and people from the South of France who composed the new society of colonists in Algeria, who accused him of failing to obtain the blessing of the church for his marriage and the lack of a baptism for his wife. Urbain has been largely attributed as the source of the arabophilia of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, to whom he was a personal adviser. He corresponded with many key political, military and cultural people in the Algeria of his time. In an 1857 article in ''

Revue de Paris ''Revue de Paris'' was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis-Désiré Véron. After two years Veron left the magazine to head the Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded ...

'' Urbain denounced the term "

Kabylie Kabylia ('' Kabyle: Tamurt n Leqbayel'' or ''Iqbayliyen'', meaning "Land of Kabyles", '','' meaning "Land of the Tribes") is a cultural, natural and historical region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kabyle people. It is part of th ...

" as an invention due to the French spirit of systematization, used neither by the Arabs nor by the Berbers of Algeria. In 1861 he published under the pen name Georges Voisin ''L’Algérie pour les Algériens'' (''Algeria for the Algerians''), in which he defends the idea of an Arab Kingdom that Napoleon III, influenced by the ideas of the Saint-Simonists, had wanted to implement at the instigation of Urbain, but which was fiercely opposed by the colonists and economic interests in Algeria. The renewed attacks by Urbain in 1870 in ''L’Algérie française: indigènes et immigrants'' (''French Algeria: natives and immigrants'') provoked very violent agitation in the colony. The writings of Urbain aroused such passionate reactions that they almost completely overshadowed the ideas which were developed in the ensuing polemics.Levallois, pp. 620 ff. Urbain died in Algeria. On his death Émile Masqueray rejoined the fight for the rights of the Algerians against the repressive behavior of the colonists.

Publications

*''Lettres sur la race noire et la race blanche'', with

, Paris, Paulin, 1839 *''Algérie. Du gouvernement des tribus. Chrétiens et musulmans, Français et Algériens'', Paris, J. Rouvier, 1848 *''De la Tolérance dans l’islamisme'', Paris, Pillet fils aîné, 1856 *''L’Algérie pour les Algériens'', Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1861 *''L’Algérie française. Indigènes et immigrants'', Paris, Challamel aîné, 1862

References

Bibliography

*Michel Levallois
''Ismaÿl Urbain (1812–1884) : une autre conquête de l'Algérie''
ed. Maisonneuve & Larose, 2001, {{DEFAULTSORT:Urbain, Ismael 1812 births 1884 deaths Converts to Islam French Algeria French Muslims French people of French Guianan descent Interpreters People from Cayenne Saint-Simonists 19th-century French journalists French male journalists 19th-century translators 19th-century male writers