Assia Djebar

In 1958, Djebar married Ahmed Ould- Rouis. He was a member of the Algerian resistance against French occupation. The couple eventually divorced.

She remarried in 1980 to Malek Alloula, who was a poet.

She died on February 6, 2015, in Paris, at the age of 78.

Assia Djebar, whose real name was Fatima-Zohra Imalayen, was born on June 30, 1936 in Algeria, to Tahar Imalhayène and Bahia Sahraoui. Her father was a French teacher. He taught at Mouzaiaville dans la Mitidja, which was the same primary school Assia attended.

She spent time at a boarding school in Bilda where focused on studying the Quran. She was one of only two women in her class.

She completed her secondary education at College de Bilda, where she was the only Muslim in her class. She later studied in Paris.

Assia Djebar's early childhood experiences helped shape her role as a Muslim feminist. Much of her work deals with the negative aspects of patriarchy and the limits it imposes on the women.

She published her first novel in 1957. It was titled ‘La Soif’, which is ‘The Mischief’ in English. She published this novel under the pen name Assia Djebar for fear of her father's disapproval. This was the first novel to be published by an Algerian woman outside of Algeria. It told a story of infidelity and seduction within the Algerian upper class.

Her second novel, ‘Les Impatientes’, hit shelves in 1958. It also focused on the inner workings of the Algerian upper class.

In 1962 she published ‘Children of the New World’. It depicted the role women played in the Algerian war for independence against France.

In 1967 she published a sequel to ‘Children of the New World’ entitled ‘The Naïve Larks’. This novel focused on the rise of feminism in Algeria.

Djebar is known for her anti-patriarchal and anti-colonial political stances, which served as the basis for her writings. Her name is closely tied to the literary Feminist movement.

One of her major works is her first novel, "The Mischief", which was published in 1957. This novel showed the woman protagonist asserting herself and her sexual desires by having an affair. It went against traditional Muslim views towards women. It was significant because Djebar adapted the pen name Assia Djebar to hide from her father's wrath. Her courage to publish this novel anyways shows her strong feminine spirit.

Another one of her major works is her 1962 novel ‘The Children of the New World’, and its 1967 sequel ‘The Naïve Larks’. These two novels are significant for the depiction of post-colonial Algerian society. These novels served as a social critique that pointed out the changes that needed to be made within Algerian society. The changes focused mostly on gender equality.