Benjamin Stora
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Stora is a French
historian
, expert on North Africa
, who is widely considered one of the world's leading authorities on Algeria
n history. He was born in a Jewish family in Constantine
, then in French Algeria
, which left the country following its War of Independence
in 1962. Stora holds two PhDs (1974 and 1984) and a Doctorate of the State (1991). His books and articles have been translated into several languages, including English, Arabic, Spanish, German, Russian and Vietnamese.
He has published almost thirty books, the most well known of which include a biography of Messali Hadj
(reprinted by Hachette-Poche, 2004); a Biographical Dictionary of Algerian Militants (L’Harmattan, 1985); Gangrene and Oblivion: Memory of the Algerian War (La Découverte, 1991); They Came From Algeria: Algerian Immigration in France (1912–1992) (Fayard, 1992); The History of Colonial Algeria 1830-1954 (La Découverte, 1993); The History of Algeria Since Independence (La Découverte, 1994); Ferhat Abbas (Denoël, 1995, with Zakia Daoud); Algeria in 1995 (Michalon, 1995); Dictionary Of Books on The War in Algeria (L’Harmattan, 1996); Conscripts in The War in Algeria (Gallimard, 1997); The 100 Doors Of Maghreb (L’Atelier, 1999); The Last Generation of October (Stock, 2003); and The Three Exiles, Jews of Algeria (Stock, 2006) (selected for the Renaudot Essay Prize, 2006).
Stora was a historical advisor for the film Indochine
, which won the Oscar for best foreign film (1993), commissioner for the exhibitions France at War in Algeria (Invalides Museum, Paris, France, 1992) and Images of the Algerian War (La Coupole Museum, Saint Omer, France, 2002). He is the author of the documentary The Algerian Years, broadcast by the France 2 television network in 1991. He collaborated with Jean-Michel Meurice to produce the documentary The summer of '62 in Algeria: The two faces of independence, broadcast by the France 5 network in 2002. In 2010 he was the historical advisor for The first man, a screen adaptation of Albert Camus
’s last, unfinished novel, and for The free men by director Ismaël Ferroukhi
.
His most recent works include a book, co-directed with Emile Temime, on the history of immigration in France, Immigrances. In 2008 he published a biographical essay, The never-ending wars: A historian, France and Algeria (published by Stock, 2008). The following year his book, The De Gaulle Mystery: His project for Algeria, was met with great critical acclaim in France and Algeria.
He is a member of the jury for the History Prize of the French Senate, and president of the scientific council of the Maghreb section of French foreign research institutes (CNRS).
's Trotskyist activist group Alliance des Jeunes pour le Socialisme - Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (AJS-OCI, lit. "youth's alliance for socialism - internationalist communist organisation"). In 1986, Stora made a biography about Algerian nationalist and independantist leader Messali Hadj
(Algerian National Movement
). Some of his writings are published in the French Communist Party
's newspaper L'Humanité
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, expert on North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, who is widely considered one of the world's leading authorities on Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n history. He was born in a Jewish family in Constantine
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
, then in French Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
, which left the country following its War of Independence
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War was a conflict between France and Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria's gaining its independence from France...
in 1962. Stora holds two PhDs (1974 and 1984) and a Doctorate of the State (1991). His books and articles have been translated into several languages, including English, Arabic, Spanish, German, Russian and Vietnamese.
Career
Stora currently teaches at the University of Paris 13 and the Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilisations (INALCO). He founded and has been head of the Institut Maghreb-Europe since its inception in 1991. As a member of the French School of the Far East he lived for two years in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he pursued his research on the imaginary of the Algerian and Vietnamese wars. In 1998 he was guest lecturer at the University of New York. He also spent three years in Rabat, Morocco, researching Algerian and Moroccan nationalism.He has published almost thirty books, the most well known of which include a biography of Messali Hadj
Messali Hadj
Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj was an Algerian nationalist politician dedicated to the independence of his homeland from France...
(reprinted by Hachette-Poche, 2004); a Biographical Dictionary of Algerian Militants (L’Harmattan, 1985); Gangrene and Oblivion: Memory of the Algerian War (La Découverte, 1991); They Came From Algeria: Algerian Immigration in France (1912–1992) (Fayard, 1992); The History of Colonial Algeria 1830-1954 (La Découverte, 1993); The History of Algeria Since Independence (La Découverte, 1994); Ferhat Abbas (Denoël, 1995, with Zakia Daoud); Algeria in 1995 (Michalon, 1995); Dictionary Of Books on The War in Algeria (L’Harmattan, 1996); Conscripts in The War in Algeria (Gallimard, 1997); The 100 Doors Of Maghreb (L’Atelier, 1999); The Last Generation of October (Stock, 2003); and The Three Exiles, Jews of Algeria (Stock, 2006) (selected for the Renaudot Essay Prize, 2006).
Stora was a historical advisor for the film Indochine
Indochine (film)
Indochine is a 1992 French film set in colonial French Indochina during the 1930s. It is the story of Éliane Devries, a French plantation owner, and of her adopted Vietnamese daughter, Camille, with the rising Vietnamese nationalist movement set as a backdrop...
, which won the Oscar for best foreign film (1993), commissioner for the exhibitions France at War in Algeria (Invalides Museum, Paris, France, 1992) and Images of the Algerian War (La Coupole Museum, Saint Omer, France, 2002). He is the author of the documentary The Algerian Years, broadcast by the France 2 television network in 1991. He collaborated with Jean-Michel Meurice to produce the documentary The summer of '62 in Algeria: The two faces of independence, broadcast by the France 5 network in 2002. In 2010 he was the historical advisor for The first man, a screen adaptation of Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
’s last, unfinished novel, and for The free men by director Ismaël Ferroukhi
Ismaël Ferroukhi
Ismaël Ferroukhi is a French-Moroccan film director.Ferroukhi was born in Kenitra. He gained exposure with his 1992 short film L'Exposé, which won the Kodak Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival...
.
His most recent works include a book, co-directed with Emile Temime, on the history of immigration in France, Immigrances. In 2008 he published a biographical essay, The never-ending wars: A historian, France and Algeria (published by Stock, 2008). The following year his book, The De Gaulle Mystery: His project for Algeria, was met with great critical acclaim in France and Algeria.
He is a member of the jury for the History Prize of the French Senate, and president of the scientific council of the Maghreb section of French foreign research institutes (CNRS).
Political activism
In 1968, Benjamin Stora joined Pierre LambertPierre Lambert
Pierre Lambert was a French Trotskyist leader, who, for many years acted as the central leader of the French Courant Communiste Internationaliste which founded the Parti des Travailleurs.He was born in Paris to a family of Russian Jewish immigrants...
's Trotskyist activist group Alliance des Jeunes pour le Socialisme - Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (AJS-OCI, lit. "youth's alliance for socialism - internationalist communist organisation"). In 1986, Stora made a biography about Algerian nationalist and independantist leader Messali Hadj
Messali Hadj
Ahmed Ben Messali Hadj was an Algerian nationalist politician dedicated to the independence of his homeland from France...
(Algerian National Movement
Algerian National Movement
The Algerian National Movement was an organization founded to counteract the efforts of the Front de Libération Nationale . It was supported and, some say, partly financed by the French who used it to validate the claim that the FLN was not the sole representative of Algerian desires.It was...
). Some of his writings are published in the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
's newspaper L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
.
Works in English (translated)
- Algeria, 1830-2000: A Short History (translated by Jane Marie Todd, with foreword by William B. QuandtWilliam B. QuandtWilliam B. Quandt is an American scholar, author, professor and member of the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He previously served as senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and as a member on the National Security Council in the...
). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. ISBN 0801489164 ISBN 9780801489167
Works in French
- Messali Hadj. Pionnier du nationalisme algérien, Hachette, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-0127-9190-5.
- Dictionnaire biographique de militants nationalistes algériens. 600 portraits.
- Nationalistes algériens et révolutionnaires français au temps du Front Populaire.
- Les sources du nationalisme algérien. Parcours idéologiques. Origine des acteurs.
- Histoire de l'Algérie coloniale (1830-1954), La Découverte, Paris, 2004, ISBN 2-7071-4466-5.
- La gangrène et l'oubli. La mémoire de la guerre d'Algérie., La Découverte.
- Ils venaient d'Algérie. L'immigration algérienne en France (1912-1992).
- Aide-mémoire de l'immigration algérienne. Chronologie (1922-1962). Bibliographie.
- Histoire de la guerre d'Algérie, La Découverte, Paris, 2004, ISBN 2-7071-4293-X.
- La Guerre d'Algérie - 1934-2004 La fin de l'amnésie (with Mohammed Harbi), Robert Laffont, Paris, 2004, ISBN 2-2211-0024-7.
- Histoire de l'Algérie depuis l'indépendance - T1 : 1962-1988, éditions La Découverte Paris, ISBN 2-7071-4405-3.
- Ferhat Abbas. Biographie, avec Zakya DaoudZakya DaoudZakya Daoud is a well-known Moroccan journalist. She was born in 1937 in Bernay in France. She became a Moroccan citizen in 1959....
- L'Algérie en 1995.
- Dictionnaire des livres de la guerre d'Algérie (1955-1995). 2300 résumés, Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2005, ISBN 2-8581-6777-X.
- Imaginaires de guerre, Algérie-Viêt Nam en France et aux États-Unis, Paris, La Découverte, 1997, ISBN 2-7071-4308-1.
- Appelés en guerre d'Algérie.
- Algérie, Formation d'une nation, suivi de Impressions dans l'est algérien.
- Le Transfert d'une Mémoire. De l'« Algérie française » au racisme anti-arabe.
- Les 100 Portes du Maghreb.
- La guerre invisible - Algérie années 90.
- Les trois exils, Juifs d'Algérie, Stock, Paris, 2006, ISBN 2-2340-5863-5.
- Immigrances : L'immigration en France au XXe siècle (with E. Temine), Hachette, Paris, 2007, ISBN 2-0123-7261-9.
- La guerre des mémoires - La France face à son passé colonial (interview with T. Leclère), éditions de l'aube, 2007.