Djelloul Bachdjarah

January 1, 1908 — Algiers, Algeria

Djelloul Bachdjarah (Arabic: جلول باش جراح), born in 1908 in Algiers, died on March 29, 1971, in Algiers; a man of the theater and film actor, a proponent and organizer of a politically engaged theater. His name (often spelled Djelloul Bach-Djera or Djelloul Bachdjerrah) contains the prefix "bach," indicating a function. Djelloul Bachdjarah belonged to a family from the former Beylik of Algiers, the so-called Ottoman military caste; one of his ancestors served in the Ottoman Empire's army as a surgeon (djerrah). At the age of sixteen, he deserted the French army, in which he had just been drafted, following a forced recruitment campaign conducted by the gendarmerie. Imprisoned, he was released a few months later. Around 1924, the young Djelloul attended meetings of La Fraternité algérienne (The Algerian Fraternity), an association founded by Emir Khaled and often led by communist activists. It was there that he reportedly heard a call for the creation of "an Algerian theater of struggle." In any case, it was during this period, through traveling performances, that three major figures of Algerian theater asserted themselves against colonial cultural domination: Ali Sellali, known as Allalou, Mahieddine Bachtarzi, and Rachid Ksentini. For them, theatrical production served as a means of awakening and raising political awareness. The medium was colloquial Arabic. This conception would later influence the work of Kateb Yacine and Abdelkader Alloula. The colonial administration saw this as a breeding ground for agitators. Djelloul Bachdjarah was one of them. An experience in popular music and his passion led him to join the troupe, formed by Rachid Ksentini, El Hilal el Djazairi (The Algerian Crescent), of which he became the linchpin. The two men were placed under close police surveillance, and censorship even affected the plays performed during a tour in Biskra. Rachid Ksentini and Djelloul Bachdjarah parted ways following a professional disagreement. Bachdjarah, who remained an actor, continued to suffer harassment from the colonial administration; he was imprisoned several times. After escaping, he boarded an English four-masted ship and worked various jobs besides that of a sailor. Taking advantage of a stopover in France, he went to Paris where he reportedly worked for a time in a factory. Later, he moved into film, appearing in several movies. In 1956, he was working as a professor of diction at the Algiers Conservatory. After 1962, he actively collaborated on the first films of independent Algeria: "The Night Fears the Sun" and "Opium and the Stick." But his heart wasn't in it anymore. Djelloul Bachdjarah had just lost his son, El Hadi, assassinated by the French army a few hours before the ceasefire of March 19, 1962. Djelloul Bachdjarah died on March 29, 1971, and was buried in the Sidi M'hamed cemetery in Algiers.