Biography

Djelloul Bachdjarah (Arabic: جلول باش جراح), born in 1908 in Algiers, died on March 29, 1971, in Algiers; a man of the theater and film actor, a proponent and organizer of a politically engaged theater. His name (often spelled Djelloul Bach-Djera or Djelloul Bachdjerrah) contains the prefix "bach," indicating a function. Djelloul Bachdjarah belonged to a family from the former Beylik of Algiers, the so-called Ottoman military caste; one of his ancestors served in the Ottoman Empire's army as a surgeon (djerrah). At the age of sixteen, he deserted the French army, in which he had just been drafted, following a forced recruitment campaign conducted by the gendarmerie. Imprisoned, he was released a few months later.