CAMUS AND MOULOUD FERAOUN

                                             

(Photo: May 1958, Algiers: Mouloud Feraoun and Albert Camus)

Albert Camus And Mouloud Feraoun

This is a  photo from May 1958 taken in Algiers. On the left is Mouloud Feraoun,  wearing glasses and a light suit. On the right is Albert Camus in a dark suit. By this time Camus had already received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, and both men were prominent writers living through the Algerian War.

Mouloud Feraoun was a Kabyle Algerian teacher and writer. He was born in 1913 in a village in Kabylia. He was Muslim, from a Berber family, and his books like ,"The Poor Man's Son" and "Journal" describe everyday village life, education, and the changes happening in Algeria. He wrote clearly and directly about people, not politics, and was respected as a voice of ordinary Algerians.

Camus and Feraoun had real respect for each other. Camus wrote the preface to Feraoun’s "The Poor Man's Son"  in 1954 and spoke of him with admiration. During the war they both believed in dialogue and in protecting civilians and schools. They met several times in Algiers, including in May 1958, which is when this photo was taken.

In his preface to "The Poor Man's Son,  Camus wrote :

"I love this land, and I am of this land. And because I love it, I do not want it to be torn apart.   Mouloud Feraoun tells us about this land with a truth that is rare. He speaks of the poor, of the village, of children and of work. He does not complain. He shows.There is in this book a dignity and a modesty that command respect. It is the book of a man who has known misery and who has not been embittered by it.  This is the voice of Algeria itself, the silent Algeria, the one that works and suffers and hopes."

Camus  put Feraoun on the map as without Camus’s name, a Kabyle teacher’s novel might never have been published in Paris in the 1950s.  Camus said Feraoun wasn’t writing politics, he was writing life. Daily life. Later in letters Camus called Feraoun “my brother.” Not because they agreed on everything, but because they both loved Algeria and hated seeing it bleed. Feraoun was deeply moved by the preface. He kept it with the book for the rest of his life.

Mouloud Feraoun was assassinated on March 15, 1962 for being moderate and pro talks. He and five other education inspectors were killed at a meeting in El Biar, Algiers, just days before the ceasefire that ended the war. His ,"Journal" , published after his death, remains one of the most important accounts of that period.

( Avtar Mota )

PS

Kabylia Berbers

The Kabyles are Berbers who live mainly in Kabylia, a mountainous region east of Algiers in Algeria. They call themselves Izwawen and speak Taqbaylit, a Tamazight dialect. For centuries they lived in village communities with strong traditions of democracy, agriculture, and olive cultivation. Kabylia is known for its resistance to outside rule , from Romans to Ottomans to French colonization. The region produced major writers like Mouloud Feraoun and Mouloud Mammeri who documented Kabyle life. Today Kabyles are central to the Berber cultural movement, fighting to preserve language, music, and identity. They are largely Muslim, known for hospitality, poetry, and strong community ties.

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