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Lalla Fadhma (or Fatma) n'Soumer (Werja, Kabylie 1830 - Béni Slimane 1863) was an important figure of the Algerian resistance movement during the first years of the French colonial conquest of Algiers. The impact of her involvement was such that she has been seen as the embodiment of the struggle and has been called the “Joan of Arc of Kabylie.”
Biography About the life of Fadhma N Soumer (Lalla is an honorific reserved for women of high rank, or who are venerated as saints) we have sufficient information to depict it broadly, even if many details can't be made clear with precision since many sources differ about them. It is sure that she was born in the Kabyle village of Werja, from a marabout family, about 1830 (Fadhma is the Berber pronunciation of the Arabic name Fatima), and that she had many siblings (4 or 5 depending on sources). Her father, Sidi Ahmed Mohamed, directed the Koranic school (in the Berber language, timâammert) of property of Sidi Ahmed u Mezyan, in the nearby village of Summer. The traditional sources agree that Fadhma showed a decisive and stubborn character from her early childhood, a proof would be the fact that she insisted on following lessons in the Koran in her father’s school, a very unusual social behaviour for a young girl. Wedding and renunciation When she was 16, her relatives arranged her wedding, as was customary, with one of her uncles on her mother’s side, Yahia N At Ikhoulaf. However she refused to submit herself to the husband chosen by her relatives, confirming her liking for a life openly in contrast with the Kabile traditions of that time. Soon she left her husband in order to return to her religius studies. For a XIX century Kabile woman it was unthinkable to reject her role of wife and mother and aspire to a typically masculine role such as that of religious scholar. Subsequently, beng considered a tabudalit (a woman possessed by the Spirit), she followed a life of ascetism, committed to the practice and study of religion, continuing her studies at the timâammert in Summer, which was directed, after the death of her father, by his older brother Si Tahar, who was himself gifted with great charisma. Like her father and brothers, Lalla Fadhma was an adept of the mystic fraternity of Rahmaniya. Soon after it was said that Lalla fadma had visions in which she had contact with wali, and that she was able to foresee the future. Her fame spread so much that Muslims from all Kabylie came to her to ask her advice and to offer her gifts. She received pilgrims in a room of the house in Summer which is still extant. To everyone the young hermit seemed not only pious and wise, but also young and beautiful: she took great care of her body and clothes, and she habitually wore expensive jewelery. Everyone meeting her was deeply struck by these features. Resistance to the French invasion: Bou Baghla As years passed, French presence in Algiers (begun in 1830 with the landing in Algeri) was surrounding the Kabylie region, the only region still completely independent by the French governament. With the rising of French pressure the will to resist and to prepare to defend her own region even with a bloody war became stronger. A turning point in Lalla Fadma life was the arrival in Kabylie, in about 1849, of a mysterious person, who presented himself as Mohamed ben Abdallah (the name of the Prophet), but who is known with the epithet of Bou Baghla as he was usually called. He was probably an ex-lieutenent in the Emir Abdelkader army (defeated for the last time by French in 1847), who refusing to surrender moved to the only region still free from French, Kabylie, from where he began a war (often employing guerrilla tactics) against the French armies and their allies. Bou Baghla was a relentless fighter, very eloquent in Arabic. He was very religious, and some legends tell about his taumaturgic skills. Lalla Fadhma was soon attracted by Bou Baghla’s strong personality, as he went often to Summer in order to talk with the high-ranking members of the religious community. At the same time the relentless combatant was attracted by a woman so resolutely willing to contribute, by any means possible, to the war against the French. With her inspiring speeches she convinced many men to go as imseblen, volunteers ready to die as martyrs, and she herself, together with other women, participated in the combats, not fighting personally with weapons, but providing cooking, medicines, and comfort to the fighting forces. Traditional sources tell that a strong bond was formed among them, premise for a possible wedding which would be accepted by Fadhma, since it was a wedding among two peers, and not a way to segregate her as a slave for her husband, just looking forward his house. In fact at that time Bou Baghla left his first wife (Fatima Bent Sidi Aissa) and sent back to her owner a slave whom he got as concubine (Halima Bent Messaoud). But on her side Lalla Fadhma wasn't free: even if she was recognized as tamnafeqt ("woman who left her husband to get back to his family", a Kabile institution), the matrimonial tie with her husband was stil in place and only her husband will could free her. Her husband didn't give his agreement, even if he was offered large bribes in order to do that. The love between Fadhma and Bou remained at a Platonical level, but there were public externations of this feeling between the two. Legends report about the pubblic admiration expression used by Fadhma when he received a wound on his arm during a fight ("your beard is not hay!")). it's sure, however, that Fadhma was personally present on many fights where Bou Baghla was involved, particularly the battle of Tachekkirt won by Bou Baghla forces (18-19 July 1854), where the French General Randon was caught, managing to escape the capture later. On 26 December 1854 Bou Baghla was killed, some sources claim it was due to the treason of some of his allies, and the resistance remained without a charismatic leader and a commander able to guide it efficiently. For this reason, during the first months of 1855 on a sanctuary built on top of the Azru Nethor peak (1880 m), not far away from the village where Fadhma was born, there was a great council among combatants and important figures of the tribes living in Kabylie, to decide future plans. The decision was to grant Lalla Fadhma, assisted by her brothers, the command of combat actions. Last stand and surrender Tired of continuous combat actions from the Kabyle resistance, General Randon, appointed Marshal of France, decided to undergo, in the late spring of 1857, what was called by French the "Kabyle pacification". In order to assault the still free region he gathered an army of about 45000 men (35000 French soldiers and some thousands of indigenous troops), dividen in many columns to attack en masse and at the same time on all the sides of the Kabile resistance. The offensive started on May 17. Defeat was inevitable by Kabyle people, being outnumbered and outgunned by their enemies, and their villages and tribes fell one after onother in just a ew months. The first tribe to be defeated was the At Yiraten, on their territory the French started to build a fort (Fort Napoléon, named after Napoleon III) on June 14. A strong defensive line managed to stop, with great losses and only temporarily, the attackers at Icherriden (June 24: 44 deads and 327 wounded) thanks to a sudden attack originating from trenches hidden in the terrain. Traditional sources tell that Lalla Fadhma took part in the battle and ordered that the fighters should tie one to the other with ropes so nobody was tempted to flee. In few days, however, using artillery, the French army managed to go beyond these defenses and on June 28 almost all the major tribes capitulated (At Yenni, At Wasif, At Boudrar, At Mangellat, etc.). Lalla Fadhma was among the last to surrender, retreating to a village hidden by the hardest peaks of Jurjura, Takhlijt n At Aadsou, near Tirourda hill. On July 11 the last village held by Kabyle rebels, Takhlijt n At Aadsou, was stormed by the French and conquered. The reports about the fight are not clear: it is reported that there were episodes of corruption and treasons, which is highly probable (moving in those regions without expert guides would've been almost impossible). Some French reports tell that it was Lalla Fadhma brother Sidi Tayeb who sold his tribe and his sister in change of the promise to not harm the village where his sister and her troops were hiding. But it's more likely he just negotiated the surrender after the military defeat. However, even if there was any agreement, the French army didn't respect them, invading the village, sent off the men and forced Lalla Fadhma to exit from the house where she was hiding with the other women and children. Lalla Fadhma n'Soumer was taken as a prisoner together with about two hundreds more women and children, who were sent with her to a detention camp at the Zaouia of Beni Slimane in Tablat, under control of a bachagha (local authority) loyal to Frenchs. Lalla Fadhma in the present times After more than a century from her death, Lalla Fadhma fame is still alive and present in all Algiers, and in particular in her region, Kabyle. In fact many artists and bands composed pictures and songs about her (one of the best known songs dedicated to her is by Tagrawla, an Algierine band). In her honour a feminist association for Algiers women was given the name Daughters of Lalla Fatma N Soummer. Lalla Fadhma, and her figure of never surrending woman, is still interesting at the present times: in fact when in 1995 her spoils were trasnferred to the heroes cementry of El Alia (Algiers), the actual date and time of the ceremony was not communicated but was only told to the media what had been done after it happened. The Algiers authority were seen by the medias as embarrassed to do this move just after passing a bill about Family Code which was exteremely harsh with women: in this way the authorities would not have to take care of possible "unpleasent" manifestations by the women associations which find in Lalla Fadhma an important figure impersonating a deeply independent and modern woman. Bibliography See also Notes | ||||||||
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