Tahar Djaout (11 January 1954 – 2 June 1993) was an Algerian journalist, poet, and fiction writer. He was assassinated in 1993 by the

Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from ; ) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian government and army in the Algerian Civil War. It was created from smaller armed groups following the 1992 military coup and ar ...

Early life

He was born in 1954 in Oulkhou, a village in the

Kabylie Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle language, Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kaby ...

region. After university he worked as a journalist for ''Algérie Actualité'', and by the late 1980s, he became one of Algeria's foremost literary talents.

Assassination

He was assassinated by the

because of his support of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

and opposition to what he considered fanaticism. He was attacked on 26 May 1993 as he was leaving his home in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, Algeria. He died on 2 June, after lying in a coma for a week. One of his attackers professed that he was murdered because he "wielded a fearsome pen that could have an effect on Islamic sectors." After his death the BBC made a documentary about him entitled 'Shooting the Writer', introduced by

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Work

* '' The Last Summer of Reason'' Novel, Ruminator Books, 2001] (French edn: Le dernier été de la raison, Paris,

Seuil Seuil () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 447 communes of the Ardennes department of France France, officially ...

, 1999] * ''The Watchers'' ovel, Ruminator Books(French edn: Les Vigiles, Editions du Seuil, 1991) * ''L'invention du Desert'', ovel, Editions du Seuil, 1987* ''Les Chercheurs d'Os'' ovel, Editions du Seuil, 1984* ''Les Rets de l'oiseleur'' (short stories) NED, Algiers, 1983* ''L'oiseau minéral'', poems, igean, L'Orycte, 1982* ''L'exproprié'', ovel, SNED, Algiers, 1981* ''Insulaire et Cie'', poems igean, L'Orycte, 1980* ''L'Arche à vau-l'eau'', poems ditions Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, 1978* ''Solstice Barbelé'', poems, ditions Naaman, Québec, 1975

External links

* Tahar Djaou

* Silence is Death: The Life and Work of Tahar Djaou

by Julija Suky

* "Islamists Killed Tahar Djaout: We Should Give Life to His Ideas," by Jennifer Bryson, January 16, 2009

* Ali Chibani, ''Tahar Djaout et Lounis Aït Menguellet. Temps clos et ruptures spatiales,'' Paris, L'Harmattan, 2012

References

1954 births 1993 deaths People from Aït Chafâa Kabyle people Algerian writers Algerian male poets Assassinated Algerian journalists People killed by Islamic terrorism Algerian critics of religions Critics of Islamism 20th-century Algerian poets 20th-century Algerian male writers 20th-century Algerian journalists {{Algeria-writer-stub