Pierre Rabhi - Franco-Algerian Youth

Franco-Algerian Youth

Pierre Rabhi was born into a Muslim family in Kénadsa, near Béchar, an oasis in southern Algeria, in 1938. His mother died when he was four years old. His father who was a blacksmith, a musician and a poet, got to know a French couple, an engineer and his wife who was a primary school teacher when they came to work at the Compagnie des Houillères (Coal mining Corporation) in his native village during colonisation. As this couple were unable to have a child and young Pierre’s father was worried about his son’s future, he accepted that the couple bring up his son on the condition that he continue to be a good Muslim. Later, his father would find himself obliged to close his workshop and to go to work in the mine. This would influence the thoughts and philosophy of his son. Thus, Pierre Rabhi’s childhood was shared between France and Algeria and the catholic and Muslim worlds until the age of 14.