Taha El-Amiri

Taha El-Amiri, whose real name is Abderrahmane Bestandji, is an actor and director of the Algerian national theater, born on August 20, 1927, in the popular district of Casbah, in the heights of Algiers. Committed actor and activist within the Algerian People's Party (PPA). He learned dramaturgy, under the guidance of Mahiedine Bechtarzi, the founding father of Algerian theater, alongside his companion Habib Redha, the martyr Majid Redha, the actress Kelthoum and the actor Hassane El Hassani. His pseudonym Taha El-Amiri, was attributed an artistic basis, since beginning artists used to choose their nicknames. Taha El Amiri began his artistic career in 1947 and in the following years, he distinguished himself in several roles such as Othello, Saladin El Ayoubi, El Khalidoune and other plays. He met Doctor Sholy, as he suffered the pangs of French censorship, at a time when the pronunciation of the word "freedom" was synonymous with the banning of any theatrical presentation. Al-Amiri was one of the founders of the FLN artistic troupe, first establishing ties with Mustafa Kateb, then joining Abdelhalim Rais, Ahmed Wahbi and Hassan Chafei in Tunis. The presentation of the play El Khalidoune (The Eternals) in which he participated in Fes (Morocco) had long irritated the French governor who also threatened the Algerian troupe, which moreover continued to inform international public opinion on the Algerian question (the mother question) and to convey the message of the glorious revolution.