Matoub, Lounes

▪ 1999

      Algerian singer and activist (b. Jan. 26, 1956, Taourirt-Moussa, Alg.—d. June 25, 1998, near Tizi-Ouzou, Alg.), celebrated in song the language and culture of the Berbers (Amazigh), an ancient North African people that represents about one-fifth of the Algerian population. Matoub was born in the northern mountainous region of Kabylia, an area steeped in Berber tradition. His mother introduced him to the folk music of the Berbers and nurtured his musical gifts. The young Matoub also was exposed to the vehement resistance his kinsmen raised against the policy of "arabization," which the new government introduced when Algeria won its independence in 1962. The Kabylie Berbers objected to this policy—which aimed to promote Arabic and Islamic cultural values throughout society—on the grounds that they would be forced to turn their backs on their own firmly entrenched and dearly loved traditions. Matoub poured these feelings into his songs. He became an activist in the Berber cultural movement, and in 1976 he cofounded the Algerian Human Rights League. Moving to France in 1978, Matoub played his protest songs in cafes and bars and soon recorded his first album, Ay Izem ("The Lion"), which became a success in France and Algeria. His politically charged music, however, raised the ire of pro-Arabic Muslim fundamentalists, and in 1994 a radical militant faction, the Armed Islamic Group, kidnapped Matoub and held him hostage for more than two weeks, an ordeal he detailed in his autobiography, Rebelle (1995). After his release Matoub lived mainly in France and returned only periodically to Algeria. On a recent trip there Matoub was ambushed and murdered, an event that heightened the Berber anger toward the government's plan to make Arabic the official language of Algeria.

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