Obituaries in the « Revue Africaine”: A model of the biography of the French elite in Algeria during the colonial period

Abstract

This study aims to trace the trajectory of writings in the field of elite biographies, known in "the Revue Africaine" (the official journal of the Algerian Historical Society) as obituaries. We have identified more than 150 biographies of French elites in the fields of science, education, administration, politics, the military, and culture.

These obituaries began with the founder of the journal and the society, Berbrugger, who wrote a series of memorial pieces celebrating the contributions of the French elite in colonial Algeria, highlighting the marks they left in various domains. This model started with the founding of the Revue Africaine in 1856, featuring 20 obituaries, all authored by Berbrugger himself. This bibliography documents the achievements of the French elites who lived in colonial Algeria. These obituaries also marked a new path in historical writing and became a documentary model for researchers in the humanities and social sciences, as well as a valuable resource for biographical dictionaries. This bibliography documents the achievements of the French elites who lived in colonial Algeria. These obituaries also marked a new path in historical writing and became a documentary model for researchers in the humanities and social sciences, as well as a valuable resource for biographical dictionaries. This research seeks to interrogate eulogies in terms of content, methodology, and objectives. This is based on the considerations for which samples were selected as a model for the study, from a range of scholarly elites: political, academic, religious, and military. Writing eulogies became a distinctive feature of the magazine throughout its publication. The primary objective of this study can also be identified: It is the first of its kind in the field of historical studies focused on French blogs during the colonial period. From the presentation of a series of data on eulogies, it becomes clear that they became a model to be in all French magazines.    

 This research relies on a single source, the "Revue Africaine", which dealt with the subject of the study, and draws on some references produced by obituaries within the framework of the Algerian Historical Society during the colonial era. Some observations can be made in this regard: the obituaries included religious figures (Bishop Pavy), political figures (Governor General Tirman), and an Algerian (Ibn Chneb) with a dual culture who imposed himself on the scientific scene in Algeria during the colonial period. This study also sheds light on this bibliographical treasure, which documents the biographies of the scholarly elite in Algeria during the colonial period.

     In the context of this research, the study has, from the outset, followed a historical approach to studying the production of eulogies within the African Journal from 1856 to 1962, while conducting a comparison within the fields of knowledge addressed within the journal using a scientific and statistical approach. This study also relies on a set of statistics that help understand and manage knowledge production in the field of eulogies. In this study, we selected twelve figures as an applied model; they were eulogized according to the paths of the elites who mourned them shortly after their deaths.

    The study reached several conclusions, the most important of which is that the magazine devoted great attention to eulogizing its political, military, religious, and academic elites who left their mark in various fields during the French colonial period in Algeria. The eulogies also focused on mentioning their various great achievements in service of the goals of the French administration. Discovering this list through this bibliographic glossary is considered a new trend in historical studies through the accumulation of bibliographic knowledge left behind by the magazine across 471 issues and over different time periods. The researcher in the field of human sciences, through the field of eulogies recorded in the Revue Africaine, detects a new field of knowledge that falls within the model of biographies and translations of the elites who contributed to French circles in Algeria during the colonial period.

Key words: Algeria, Elites, French colonialism, Obituaries. Revue Africaine.