Feraoun, Mouloud

(1913-1962)

   A Kabyle writer whose real name is Aït Chaabane Mouloud Feraoun. Feraoun was born on 8 March 1913 in Tizi Hibel in Greater Kabylia. Although he was born to a poor peasant family, he managed to get through the French school system and to earn a diploma at the Bouzaréah Normal School (Teachers College) in Algiers. After graduation, he returned to his native village as an elementary school teacher and married his cousin. In 1947, he was assigned to Taourirt Moussa and became a school principal in 1952.

   Feraoun was one of the most prolific francophone writers of his generation. In all his works, he described Kabyle everyday life and times, highlighting the universality of the human condition. He published three novels, a series of essays, and a translation of the poems of the prominent Kabyle poet, Si Mohand. His novels are Le fils du pauvre (1950), La terre et le Sang (1953), and Les chemins qui montent. His first novel, Le fils du pauvre, is considered a masterpiece of Algerian literature. In it, using a romantic writing style and based on his village life story, he describes the ups and downs of growing up in Kabylia. In 1954, he published a series of essays entitled Jours de Kabylie, and his translation of Les poèmes de Si Mohand appeared in 1960. In addition, three posthumous works include Journal 1955-1962 (1962), Les lettres à ses amis (1968), and an unfinished novel that he began writing in 1959, L'anniversaire (1972). On 15 March 1962, Feraoun as well as five of his colleagues were assassinated by a commando of the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), an extremist organization of the French settlers in Algeria.