Kateb Yacine (Arabic pronunciation: (August 2, 1929 or August 6, 1929 — October 28, 1989) was an Algerian writer notable for his novels and plays, both in French and Algerian Arabic dialect, and his advocacy of the Algerian Berber cause.
Kateb Yacine was born in Condé-Smendou, near Constantine, into an
old, highly literate family. His father was Kateb Mohamed and mother
Kateb Jasmina. (Kateb is the writer's last name, Yacine his first.) He
was raised on tales of Arab achievement as well as on the legends of the
Algerian heroes. After attending a Qur'anic school, he entered the
French-language school system. In 1945 Kateb's studies at the Collège de
Sétif were interrupted by his arrest, following his participation in a
nationalist demonstration in Setif. The demonstration had turned to
rioting and massacre of thousands people by the police and the army.
Kateb was imprisoned without trial and freed a few months later. While
in prison, Kateb discovered his two great loves, revolution and the
poetry. One of Kateb's best-known poems, 'La rose de Blida' (1963), was
about his mother, who, believing him to have been killed during the
demonstration, suffered a mental breakdown.
