André Mandouze
Encyclopedia
André Mandouze was a French academic and journalist, a Catholic, and an anti-fascist and anti-colonialist activist.
In January 1946, when he was offered a post at the University of Algiers, he accepted with alacrity -- for him, Algeria was the birth-place of Saint Augustine, to whom he had dedicated his thesis at the Sorbonne
.
A confidant of Léon-Etienne Duval
, he agitated for the independence of Algeria. With other Catholic intellectuals, such as François Mauriac
, Louis Massignon
, Henri Guillemin, Henri-Irénée Marrou
, Pierre-Henri Simon
, he criticised the French Army for using of torture in Algeria, in the pages of Le Monde
and France-Observateur,
In 1963, at the request of Ahmed Ben Bella
, he became rector of the University of Algiers. But with the arrival in power of Houari Boumédiène
, he resumed being a professor in the university and then returned to Paris to teach Latin
at the Sorbonne.
He did not return to Algeria until 2001, to preside with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
over a colloquium on Saint Augustine who, for him, symbolised the link between Africaness and universalism.
In January 1946, when he was offered a post at the University of Algiers, he accepted with alacrity -- for him, Algeria was the birth-place of Saint Augustine, to whom he had dedicated his thesis at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
.
A confidant of Léon-Etienne Duval
Léon-Etienne Duval
Léon-Etienne Duval was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Algiers in Algeria from 1954 to 1988, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.-Biography:...
, he agitated for the independence of Algeria. With other Catholic intellectuals, such as François Mauriac
François Mauriac
François Mauriac was a French author; member of the Académie française ; laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature . He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur .-Biography:...
, Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon was a French scholar of Islam and its history. Although a Catholic himself, he tried to understand Islam from within and thus had a great influence on the way Islam was seen in the West; among other things, he paved the way for a greater openness inside the Catholic Church towards...
, Henri Guillemin, Henri-Irénée Marrou
Henri-Irénée Marrou
Henri-Irénée Marrou was a leading French historian of the mid-twentieth century. A Christian humanist in outlook, his work was primarily in the spheres of Late Antiquity and the history of education...
, Pierre-Henri Simon
Pierre-Henri Simon
Pierre-Henri Simon was a French intellectual, literary historian, essayist, novelist, poet and literary critic...
, he criticised the French Army for using of torture in Algeria, in the pages of Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
and France-Observateur,
In 1963, at the request of Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella
Mohamed Ahmed Ben Bella was a soldier and Algerian revolutionary, who became the first President of Algeria.-Youth:...
, he became rector of the University of Algiers. But with the arrival in power of Houari Boumédiène
Houari Boumediene
Houari Boumedienne served as Algeria's Chairman of the Revolutionary Council from 19 June 1965 until 12 December 1976, and from then on as the fourth President of Algeria to his death on 27 December 1978.- Background :Mohamed Ben Brahim Boukharouba was born near Héliopolis in the province of...
, he resumed being a professor in the university and then returned to Paris to teach Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
at the Sorbonne.
He did not return to Algeria until 2001, to preside with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the ninth President of Algeria. He has been in office since 1999. He continued emergency rule until 24 February 2011, and presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002...
over a colloquium on Saint Augustine who, for him, symbolised the link between Africaness and universalism.
Works
- Intelligence et sainteté dans l'ancienne tradition chrétienne (Cerf, 1962) ;
- Histoire des saints et de la sainteté chrétienne (Hachette, 1986-1988)
- Mémoires d'outre-siècle : 1. D'une Résistance à l'autre (Viviane Hamy, 1998). 2. A gauche toute, bon Dieu ! (Cerf, 2003)
External links
- Obituary in The Guardian, 14 July 2006
- Nur al-Cubicle, 3 July 2006
- The Memory of Resistance: French Opposition to the Algerian War (1954-1962), by Martin EvansMartin EvansSir Martin John Evans FRS is a British scientist who, with Matthew Kaufman, was the first to culture mice embryonic stem cells and cultivate them in a laboratory in 1981...
, 1997, ISBN 185973927X -- contains a long interview with Mandouze