Si Mohand
Si Mohand ou-Mhand n At Hmadouch, also known as Si Mhand, (Icerɛiwen,
Biography
Born into an important wealthy family and educated in traditional religious teaching (hence the title Si, "Doctor", which is added to his name), his life was marked by the strong repression which followed the Kabyle revolt against the French colonial rule in 1871. He lost everything. His father was sentenced to death, his paternal uncle was sent into exile in New Caledonia, and his family's possessions were forfeited. Unlike his mother and his brothers, who emigrated to Tunis, he preferred to stay and live in Algeria as one of the dispossessed, working as a day laborer or practicing other poorly paid jobs. He never settled anywhere, but wandered all his life in Algiers or in other Algerian towns and villages inside and around Kabylie. Few details of his life are known for certain. The tradition remembers a visit he paid to the pious Cheikh Mohand ou-Lhocine, with whom he fought an epic poetic duel, as well as a journey on foot to Tunis, where he met his brothers but was not well received.
He died of tuberculosis at 57 at the Sainte-Eugénie hospital in Michelet (now
Works
In the course of his wandering life he composed a great number of
- Poésies populaires de la Kabylie du Djurdjura, M. Hanoteau, Paris, 1867
- Recueil de poésies kabyles, Saïd Boulifa, Alger, Jordan, 1904
- La Poésie kabyle de Si Mohand-ou-M’hand et les Isefra, Emile Dermenghem, Documents Alger, Séries-culturelles, n°57, 1951.
- Les Poèmes de Si Mohand, Mouloud Feraoun, Paris, Edition de Minuit, 1960.
- Les Isefra de Si Mohand, Mouloud Mammeri, Maspero, 1982.
- Si Mohand ou Mhand. Errance et révolte, Younes Adli, Paris Mediterranee, ISBN 2-84272-110-1, 2001.
- Thikkelt-a ad hedjigh asefru
- Wallah ad yelhu
- Ad inadi deg lwedyat.
- Wi t-islan ard a t-yaru
- Ur as-iberru
- W' illan d elfahem yezra-t :
- A nhell Rebbi a tent-yehdu
- Ghur-es ay nedâu
- Ad baâdent adrim nekfa-t.
- This time I'll compose a poem;
- Please God it be beautiful
- And spread everywhere.
- Who will hear it will write it,
- Will not part with it
- And the wise will understand it:
- May God inspire pity in them;
- Only he can preserve us:
- Women should forget us, we have no money left!
References
- ISBN 0894103563
- ^
Ilahiane, Hsain (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Berbers. ISBN 0810864908. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ISBN 0853236593. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
Si Mohanx.
- ISBN 9004096043. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0810879195. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ^
Djebar, Assia (2011). Algerian White: A Narrative. ISBN 978-1609801076. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0520273856. Retrieved September 16, 2015.