Djelloul Bachdjarah

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.