André Mandouze (10 June 1916 in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
– 5 June 2006 in
Porto-Vecchio
Porto-Vecchio (, ; or ; , , or (South)) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica.
Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the marshy and alluvial east ...
), was a French academic and journalist, a Catholic, and an
anti-fascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
and
anti-colonialist
Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolon ...
activist.
In January 1946, when he was offered a post at the University of Algiers, he accepted with alacrity—for him, Algeria was the birthplace of
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...
, to whom he had dedicated his thesis at the
Sorbonne.
A confidant of
Léon-Etienne Duval, he agitated for the independence of Algeria. With other Catholic intellectuals, such as
François Mauriac
François Charles Mauriac (; ; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...
,
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a French Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic Church's relatio ...
,
Henri Guillemin,
Henri-Irénée Marrou
Henri-Irénée Marrou (; 12 November 1904 – 11 April 1977) was a French historian. A Christian humanist in outlook, his work was primarily in the spheres of Late Antiquity and the history of education. He is best known for his work ''History o ...
,
Pierre-Henri Simon, he criticised the French Army for using of torture in Algeria, in the pages of
Le Monde
(; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
and
France-Observateur,
In 1963, at the request of
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella (; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 and then the first president of ...
, he became rector of the University of Algiers. But with the arrival in power of
Houari Boumédiène
Houari Boumédiène (; born Mohammed ben Brahim Boukharouba; 23 August 1932 – 27 December 1978) was an Algerian military officer and politician who was the list of heads of state of Algeria, second head of state of independent Algeria from 196 ...
, he resumed being a professor in the university and then returned to Paris to teach
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
at the Sorbonne.
He did not return to Algeria until 2001, to preside with President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019.
Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika s ...
over a colloquium on Saint Augustine who, for him, symbolised the link between Africaness and universalism.
Biography
André Mandouze spent his childhood in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
and passed his baccalaureate at the Lycée Lonchamps, notably alongside his friend
André Clavé, whom he would meet again throughout their shared struggles (influenced by their English teacher, Pierre Chamaillard).
A graduate of the
École normale supérieure (Paris)
The – PSL (; also known as ENS, , Ulm or ENS Paris) is a ''grande école'' in Paris, France. It is one of the constituent members of Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL). Due to its selectivity, historical role, and influence within F ...
(class of 1937), he obtained the agrégation in classics in 1939.
From 1941 to 1944, during the Occupation, André Mandouze took part in various clandestine civil and military networks of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
, and forged networks of Jewish-Christian friendship. As an assistant at the Faculty of Letters in Lyon, his students included
Jean-Marie Domenach
Jean-Marie Domenach (; 13 February 1922 – 5 July 1997) was a French writer and intellectual. He was noted as a left-wing and Catholic thinker.
Domenach was born in Lyon, where he studied at the Lycée du Parc. In 1949, he became an editor of ' ...
and Gilbert Dru, with whom he edited the Cahiers de notre jeunesse from June 1941 onwards. He made friends with the
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...
Jean-Augustin Maydieu, one of the founders of the Christian weekly Sept (closed by the Dominicans in 1937 on Vatican orders), and with the Jesuit Pierre Chaillet, founder of the Cahiers du Témoignage chrétien, for which he edited the June 1943 issue. From 1944 to the end of 1945, he was
Editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
of Témoignage chrétien.
In 1946, he was appointed Professor of Latin at the Faculté des Lettres in
University of Algiers 1. For him, Algeria is the birthplace of Saint Augustine, to whom he dedicated his doctoral thesis (Sorbonne). A close friend of Cardinal Duval, Archbishop of Algiers, he campaigned for Algerian
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
. As early as 1947, he denounced the “myth of the three French departments”. In 1950, he edited Consciences algériennes, a magazine against colonization and for a free, democratic and social Algeria. He became actively involved with the
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front (; ), commonly known by its French acronym FLN, is a nationalist political party in Algeria. It was the main nationalist movement during the Algerian War and the sole legal and ruling political party of the Algerian ...
. He was arrested in November 1955 with other pro-FLN activists, but with the media support of Robert Barrat,
François Mauriac
François Charles Mauriac (; ; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...
and Jean-Marie Domenach, the accused were quickly released.
When Mendès-France resigned, the situation changed: André Mandouze's home was searched and he was imprisoned at La Santé in Paris (November and December 1956, 40 days) for “supporting the rebellion”. He was released at Christmas, thanks to a vigorous public opinion campaign. Transferred to the Strasbourg faculty, he resumed teaching on April 1, 1956.
Along with other Catholic intellectuals such as François Mauriac,
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a French Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic Church's relatio ...
, Henri Guillemin,
Henri-Irénée Marrou
Henri-Irénée Marrou (; 12 November 1904 – 11 April 1977) was a French historian. A Christian humanist in outlook, his work was primarily in the spheres of Late Antiquity and the history of education. He is best known for his work ''History o ...
(his Augustinian master) and
Pierre-Henri Simon, he spoke out against torture in Esprit, Le Monde, France-Observateur, l'Express and Témoignage chrétien.
He signed the Manifesto of 121 in the summer of 1960, entitled “Declaration on the right to
Draft evasion
Conscription evasion or draft evasion (American English) is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military dr ...
in the
Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
”, and Algeria was grateful for his unfailing loyalty.
In 1961, La Révolution Algérienne par les Textes (Algerian Revolution through Texts), published by François Maspéro, was seized by the FLN to “reconstitute the image that the Algerian Republic has of itself”. Algerian independence on July 5, 1962.
In 1963,
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella (; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 and then the first president of ...
called on André Mandouze to become the first Director of Higher Education in independent Algeria. Mandouze set about reorganizing the Algerian university system. With the arrival of
Houari Boumédiène
Houari Boumédiène (; born Mohammed ben Brahim Boukharouba; 23 August 1932 – 27 December 1978) was an Algerian military officer and politician who was the list of heads of state of Algeria, second head of state of independent Algeria from 196 ...
, he soon found it technically impossible to continue his task... “I beg you, Mr. President, to finally grant me an interview to receive my resignation in person”. André Mandouze resigned to return to his position as professor at the University of Algiers (1964-1968).
Works
* (Cerf, 1962)
* (Hachette, 1986-1988)
* (Viviane Hamy, 1998). 2. (Cerf, 2003)
References
Bibliography
*
*
* (contains a long interview with Mandouze).
1916 births
2006 deaths
Academic staff of the University of Algiers
University of Paris alumni
French male non-fiction writers
20th-century French journalists
20th-century French male writers
21st-century Algerian people
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