Lounès Matoub
Encyclopedia
Lounès Matoub (January 24, 1956 – June 25, 1998) was a famous Berber
Kabyle
singer and mondol player http://bahmaduzeggane.blogspot.com/2008/07/celebrating-lounes-matoub-berber.html who was a prominent advocate of the Berber
cause and secularism
in Algeria
throughout his life.
He is revered as a hero and martyr in Kabylie
and the Berber World
but reviled by most of the Arab population in Algeria for his atheism
and the alleged blasphemy
of some songs (like Allahu Akbar
) along with his militant advocacy of Berber rights, so he was unpopular among both warring parties during Algerian Civil War
. His assassination, in circumstances which remain unclear, provoked violent riots in Kabylie. Berber Algerians still accuse the Algeria
n regime of killing Matoub Lounès, but some of the Algerian regime's figures accused the Islamist terrorists of this crime.
in Algeria
n Kabylia. At 9 years of age he built his first guitar from an empty car oil can and composed his first songs as a teenager. His political and cultural identity was awakened by armed confrontations between Kabyles and government forces in 1963–1964. In 1968, the Algerian government introduced a policy of Arabization in the education system. Matoub reacted by skipping school; his memoirs http://amazighworld.net/history/lounesmatoub/matoub_memoirs.php/ recall: "We had to give up Berber and reject French. I said no! I played hooky in all my Arabic classes. Every class that I missed was an act of resistance, a slice of liberty conquered. My rejection was voluntary and purposeful." By 1975, he had deserted formal education. He left for France in search of work.
. He recorded his first album Ay Izem (The Lion) in 1978; it was a phenomenal success. He went on to record 36 albums, as well as writing songs for other artists. He gave his first major concert in April 1980, at the time of the "Berber Spring" protest movement in Kabylie.
His music mixes oriental Chaabi orchestration with politicized Berber (Tamazight) lyrics, and covers a broad variety of topics including the Berber cause, democracy, freedom, religion, Islamism, love, exile, memory, history, peace and human rights. Unlike the Amazigh poet/musicians who preceded him, Matoub's style was direct and confrontational. Fellow musician Moh Aileche recalls,
During the civil war, which began in 1992, the Islamist Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
added his name to a hitlist of artists and intellectuals. Matoub remained in Algeria. On 25 September 1994, he was abducted. He was held for two weeks in a GIA mountain stronghold and condemned to death. He was released following a large public demonstration, in which his supporters threatened "total war" on the Islamists.
In 1994, he published his autobiography entitled Rebelle (Paris: Stock, 1995).
claimed responsibility for the assassination of Lounes Matoub.
On the first anniversary of his death, a general strike was observed in Kabyle's capital Tizi-Ouzou and thousands protested on the streets. Protesters broke into the town's court room and tore down its scales of justice. The BBC reported that many Berber activists blamed the government for his death and rejected its claim that Islamists were responsible.
Around 20,000 people marched in Tizi-Ouzou to mark the third anniversary of the assassination.
His family have created a foundation in his name to promote his memory, throw light on the circumstances of his assassination and promote the values he defended. Two streets in France have been named after Matoub, one in Grenoble
and one in Lyon
.
On 18 July 2011, a judge handed 12-year jail terms to two men, Malik Madjnoun and Abdelhakim Chenoui, convicted of killing the popular singer. The one-day trial was suspended twice when the performer's family interrupted to insist the suspects were innocent. The pair are part of a group of 10 people accused of the killing Lounès Matoub and have been in prison awaiting trial since 1998. They have practically served their 12-year sentences, and will be freed in the coming months. Prosecutors had requested the death penalty for the two.
, secularism
, democracy
, freedom of speech
, the recognition of Berber
as a national and official language, and the decentralization
of public schools.
For a period of time, he was a member of the Rally for Culture and Democracy
, an opposition party in Algeria, although he had left the party by the time of his death.
Berber music
The Berber people is the indigenous and major ethnic group inhabiting North Africa and part of West Africa . Berbers call themselves "imazighen"...
Kabyle
Kabyle people
The Kabyle people are the largest homogeneous Algerian ethno-cultural and linguistical community and the largest nation in North Africa to be considered exclusively Berber. Their traditional homeland is Kabylie in the north of Algeria, one hundred miles east of Algiers...
singer and mondol player http://bahmaduzeggane.blogspot.com/2008/07/celebrating-lounes-matoub-berber.html who was a prominent advocate of the Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
cause and secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
in 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...
throughout his life.
He is revered as a hero and martyr in Kabylie
Kabylie
Kabylie or Kabylia , is a region in the north of Algeria.It is part of the Tell Atlas and is located at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Kabylia covers several provinces of Algeria: the whole of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia , most of Bouira and parts of the wilayas of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Jijel,...
and the Berber World
Tamazgha
Tamazgha is a Berber word employed for the area more often known as the Maghreb or North Africa, covering the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Niger River, from Siwa Oasis to the Canary Islands....
but reviled by most of the Arab population in Algeria for his atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and the alleged blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
of some songs (like Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar (Matoub)
"Allahu Akbar" is a song written by Lounès Matoub. The song illustrated Matoub's contempt for the use of Islamic religion by the Arabs in order to annihilate the language, the traditions and the will of the Berbers....
) along with his militant advocacy of Berber rights, so he was unpopular among both warring parties during Algerian Civil War
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...
. His assassination, in circumstances which remain unclear, provoked violent riots in Kabylie. Berber Algerians still accuse the 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 regime of killing Matoub Lounès, but some of the Algerian regime's figures accused the Islamist terrorists of this crime.
Early life
Lounes Matoub was born on 24 January 1956 in the village of Taourirt MoussaAït Mahmoud
Aït Mahmoud is a town and commune in Tizi Ouzou Province in northern Algeria....
in 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 Kabylia. At 9 years of age he built his first guitar from an empty car oil can and composed his first songs as a teenager. His political and cultural identity was awakened by armed confrontations between Kabyles and government forces in 1963–1964. In 1968, the Algerian government introduced a policy of Arabization in the education system. Matoub reacted by skipping school; his memoirs http://amazighworld.net/history/lounesmatoub/matoub_memoirs.php/ recall: "We had to give up Berber and reject French. I said no! I played hooky in all my Arabic classes. Every class that I missed was an act of resistance, a slice of liberty conquered. My rejection was voluntary and purposeful." By 1975, he had deserted formal education. He left for France in search of work.
Musical career
Matoub began his singing career under the patronage of the established Kabyle singer IdirIdir
Hamid Cheriet better known by his stage name Idir is an Algerian musician of Berber origin.- Biography :...
. He recorded his first album Ay Izem (The Lion) in 1978; it was a phenomenal success. He went on to record 36 albums, as well as writing songs for other artists. He gave his first major concert in April 1980, at the time of the "Berber Spring" protest movement in Kabylie.
His music mixes oriental Chaabi orchestration with politicized Berber (Tamazight) lyrics, and covers a broad variety of topics including the Berber cause, democracy, freedom, religion, Islamism, love, exile, memory, history, peace and human rights. Unlike the Amazigh poet/musicians who preceded him, Matoub's style was direct and confrontational. Fellow musician Moh Aileche recalls,
He went straight. He criticized a president. He mentioned the president of Algeria right at the beginning of his career. He goes black and white. He was very, very clear in his songs, and he is the only singer – not only Algeria, but in all of North Africa – who criticized the government and criticized clearly. He would never become afraid.http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/112/Berber+Rising!Despite being banned from Algerian radio and television, Matoub became, and remains, an extremely popular Kabyle singer.
Political events
During riots in October 1988, Matoub was shot five times by a policeman and left for dead. He was hospitalised for two years, requiring 17 operations including the insertion of an artificial sacrum and the contraction of his leg by 5 cm. His 1989 album L'Ironie du sort describes his long convalescence.During the civil war, which began in 1992, the Islamist Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...
added his name to a hitlist of artists and intellectuals. Matoub remained in Algeria. On 25 September 1994, he was abducted. He was held for two weeks in a GIA mountain stronghold and condemned to death. He was released following a large public demonstration, in which his supporters threatened "total war" on the Islamists.
In 1994, he published his autobiography entitled Rebelle (Paris: Stock, 1995).
Prizes
- On 6 December 1994, Matoub received Le Prix de la Mémoire (Memorial Prize) from Mrs Danielle MitterrandDanielle MitterrandDanielle Mitterrand was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the foundation France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand.-Biography:...
, President of La Fondation France Libertés (French Freedom Foundation) in Paris. The prize recognises those who devote their existence to recording and preserving the impact of political events on ordinary lives. - On 22 March 1995, the organisation of journalists SCIJ (Canada) awarded him Le Prix de la Liberté d'Expression (Freedom of Expression Prize).
- On 19 December 1995, he received Le Prix Tahar Djaout (Tahar DjaoutTahar DjaoutTahar Djaout was an Algerian journalist, poet, and fiction writer. He was assassinated by the Armed Islamic Group because of his support of secularism and opposition to what he considered fanaticism. He was attacked on May 26, 1993, as he was leaving his home in Bainem, Algeria. He died on June 2,...
Prize) from La Fondation Nourredine Abba (The Nourredine Abba Foundation) at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The prize is named after an Algerian writer who was assassinated by Islamists in 1993.
Assassination and its aftermath
On 25 June 1998, at approximately 12:30 pm local time, Matoub's car was stopped at a roadblock while he was driving along a mountainous road in eastern Algeria. The car was fired upon by masked gunmen, killing Matoub and wounding his wife, Nadia Matoub, and two sisters-in-law. Within hours, news of Matoub's murder had spread throughout Kabylie and thousands of angry mourners gathered around the hospital where his body was taken. The crowd shouted "Pouvoir, Assassin" ("Government, Assassins"). A week of violent riots followed his death http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnwza_matoubarchives-tv-francealgerie. Young demonstrators clashed with riot police and attacked government property. On 28 June 1998 tens of thousands people attended his funeral in front of his house in his native village. He was buried between a fig tree and a cherry tree, opposite the house he was born in. Matoub's family played them a scathing parody of the Algerian national anthem, which came from Matoub's final album Lettre ouverte aux... ("Open letter to..."), released after his death (Gold-Disc). Matoub's assassination occurred a week before a law excluding languages other than Arabic from public life was due to come in to effect. Matoub had been an outspoken critic of this law. On 30 June 1998 the GIAArmed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...
claimed responsibility for the assassination of Lounes Matoub.
On the first anniversary of his death, a general strike was observed in Kabyle's capital Tizi-Ouzou and thousands protested on the streets. Protesters broke into the town's court room and tore down its scales of justice. The BBC reported that many Berber activists blamed the government for his death and rejected its claim that Islamists were responsible.
Around 20,000 people marched in Tizi-Ouzou to mark the third anniversary of the assassination.
His family have created a foundation in his name to promote his memory, throw light on the circumstances of his assassination and promote the values he defended. Two streets in France have been named after Matoub, one in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
and one in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
.
On 18 July 2011, a judge handed 12-year jail terms to two men, Malik Madjnoun and Abdelhakim Chenoui, convicted of killing the popular singer. The one-day trial was suspended twice when the performer's family interrupted to insist the suspects were innocent. The pair are part of a group of 10 people accused of the killing Lounès Matoub and have been in prison awaiting trial since 1998. They have practically served their 12-year sentences, and will be freed in the coming months. Prosecutors had requested the death penalty for the two.
Political views of Matoub
Matoub Lounès spoke out in favour of federalismFederalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
, secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, the recognition of Berber
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
as a national and official language, and the decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
of public schools.
For a period of time, he was a member of the Rally for Culture and Democracy
Rally for Culture and Democracy
The Rally for Culture and Democracy is a political party in Algeria. It promotes secularism and has its principal power base in Kabylia, a major Berber-speaking region...
, an opposition party in Algeria, although he had left the party by the time of his death.
External links
- Fondation Matoub Official site: biography, free online music, etc.
- La Kabylie de Matoub Lounes Kabyle cultural website dedicated to Matoub's memory.
- Biographie de Lounès Matoub en thamazight Matoub's biography.
- Matoub Lounes Website dedicated to Matoub's memory, includes photos and songs. It is written in French and some Kabyle.