Noureddine Aba

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Noureddine Aba
BornFebruary 16, 1921
Algerian
Period20th Century

Noureddine Aba (February 16, 1921

Algerian revolution, the Arab–Israeli conflict and Nazi Germany
. In 1990, he established the Fondation Noureddine Aba, which continues to present the annual Noureddine Aba Prize to Algerian writers.

Early life

Aba was born in 1921 in the Algerian town of

Second World War.[1]

Writing career

After the war, Aba became a journalist and reported on the

Nuremberg Trials. When the magazine Présence Africaine was established in 1947, Aba became one of its writers.[1] At this point, Aba was living in France, where he spent much of his adult life.[4]

Wartime experiences, particularly his outrage at the

Algerian revolution, the Arab–Israeli conflict and Nazi Germany.[2][5] The themes of his work led the scholar Jean Déjeux to compare him to Mohammed Dib.[4] Aba's more well-known collections include Gazelle au petit matin (Gazelle in the Early Morning, 1978) and Gazelle après minuit (Gazelle after Midnight, 1979), which take the form of a series of love poems inspired by the deaths of a young couple at the point of the country becoming independent from France.[5][6]

Aba has also written many plays, which are often

Battle of Algiers in 1957.[7]

Awards and honours

Aba's work gained greater critical recognition in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979 he was presented with the Prix de l'Afrique méditerranéenne for his poetry, and in 1985 he was awarded the Fondation de France's "Prix Charles Oulmont" for his contribution to literature.[1][8] His 1981 play Tell el Zaatar... won the Prix Palestine-Mahmoud Hamchari.[4]

Other work

Aba has lectured at a number of universities, including a period teaching Algerian literature at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[1] Aba has been a member of the Académie des sciences d'outre-mer and the Académie Universelle des Cultures.[1] He was also part of the Haut Conseil de la francophonie, having been appointed to this by François Mitterrand.[4]

Aba has also been active in politics. He returned briefly to Algeria in the late 1970s and worked in the Ministry of Information and Culture, before becoming disillusioned with Algerian politics and returning to France.[2] Throughout his life, he was particularly sympathetic to Palestinian nationalism.[8] Before his death, he petitioned the French government to persuade them to help bring an end to the Algerian Civil War.[4]

Death and legacy

Aba died in 1996 in Paris, aged 75.[5] The Fondation Noureddine Aba, established by the author in 1990, continues to present the annual Noureddine Aba Prize to Algerian writers writing in French or Arabic. Previous recipients have included Tahar Djaout and Redha Malek.[4]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-913745-48-9
    .
  2. ^ a b c d Tahar, Ben Jelloun (25 September 1996). "Noureddine Aba Poète et militant algérien". Le Monde.
  3. ^ Quoted in the Le Monde obituary: "J'ai dû envier les enfants de par le monde qui traversaient l'enfance avec la frivolité des papillons."
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8108-6480-1
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-415-23019-5
    .
  6. JSTOR 40135559
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-415-13186-5
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-2-86537-085-6
    .
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