Mouloud Feraoun (8 March 1913 – 15 March 1962) was an Algerian writer and martyr of the
Algerian revolution born in
Tizi Hibel,
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 ...
. Some of his books, written in
French, have been translated into several languages including
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
German
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* Germany (of or related to)
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* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
. In 1951, he corresponded with the Algeria-born French author
Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
. He was kidnapped and assassinated by the French
OAS
OAS or Oas may refer to:
Chemistry
* O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis
Computers
* Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards
* OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...
on 15 March 1962.
All of his works describe Feraoun's native society – the
Berber mountain farmers – and their life, poverty, the love of one's homeland, emigration, and the consequences of French colonialism.
On 3 March 2022, in a ceremony in Algiers, French president
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
honored Feraoun and other victims of the OAS.
Biography
Feraoun was born in 1913, belonging to a family of poor farmers. His father, who was illiterate, had to migrate several times to seek employment, for example to
Tunisia
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, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
and even to northern France, where he worked in the
coal mines of the Nord departement. There, Feraoun's father suffered an injury, which found a literary treatment in his first novel ''Fils du Pauvre''.
In a time where very few of the Muslim children of Algeria went to school, Feraoun studied at the Ecole normale in
Bouzaréah District
Bouzaréah is a district in Algiers Province, Algeria. It was named after its capital, Bouzaréah.
Municipalities
The district is further divided into 4 municipalities:
*Bouzaréah
*Béni Messous
*Ben Aknoun
*El Biar
El Biar (from Arabic "ا ...
in order to qualify as a teacher, and in 1935, he began to teach in his own birthplace. Later, from 1957, Feraoun was a school director in Algiers, and in 1960, he was made an inspector who supervised social institutions that cared for disadvantaged Algerians.
On 15 March, 1962, together with five of his colleagues, he was assassinated by the OAS, just four days before the end of 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 ...
.
Family tragedy in 2022
Feraoun's twin granddaughters, Nasrine and Narjisse, died in a widely publicised tragedy that occurred in
Montreux
Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...
, Switzerland, after the police called to their apartment to serve a warrant that involved compulsory school attendance on 24 March 2022. The family – Feraoun's two granddaughters, the husband of one of them, and two of their children – jumped from the seventh floor balcony. The only survivor is Feraoun's 15 year old great-grandson, who suffered serious injuries. The family was described as extremely reclusive.
References
Bibliography
* Le Fils du pauvre (The Poor Man's Son) - 1950
* La terre et le sang (Earth and Blood) - 1953
* Jours de Kabylie (Days of Kabylie) - 1954
* Les Chemins qui montent (The Paths that Rise) - 1957
* Les Isefra de Si Mhand Oumhand (Verses of Si Mhand Oumhand), 1960
* Journal, 1955 - 1962
* Lettres à ses amis (Letter to his friends), 1969 (posthumous)
* L'Anniversaire (The Anniversary), 1972 (posthumous)
* La Cité des Roses (The City of Roses), 2008 (posthumous
External links
The Poor Man's Son
1913 births
1962 deaths
People from Aït Mahmoud
Kabyle people
Algerian writers
Berber writers
Algerian writers in French
Assassinated Algerian people
{{Algeria-writer-stub