Abbé Pierre GOQ (born Henri Marie Joseph Grouès ; 5 August 1912 – 22 January 2007) was a French Catholic priest . He was a member of the Resistance during World War II and deputy of the Popular Republican Movement (MRP).
127-567: In 1949, he founded the Emmaus movement, with the goal of helping poor and homeless people and refugees. For years, he was one of the most popular figures in France. Allegations of sexual abuse of at least two dozen of women and children emerged in 2024. Grouès was born on 5 August 1912 in Lyon, France to a wealthy Catholic family of silk traders, the fifth of eight children. The writer and murderer Héra Mirtel
254-661: A chaplain in the French Navy on the battleship Jean Bart in Casablanca . He had become an important symbol of the French Resistance. At the end of the war, he was awarded the Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with bronze palms and the Médaille de la Résistance . When the war was over, following de Gaulle's entourage's advice and the approbation of the archbishop of Paris , Abbé Pierre
381-645: A Berber dynasty originating from Algeria and which at one point was a dominant power in the Maghreb ruling over much of Morocco and western Algeria including Fez, Sijilmasa , Aghmat , Oujda , most of the Sous and Draa and reaching as far as M'sila and the Zab in Algeria. As the Fatimid state was at the time too weak to attempt a direct invasion, they found another means of revenge. Between
508-692: A Resistance member who later became his secretary and was his assistant in his charity work until her death in 1982. He was arrested twice, once in 1944 by the Nazi police in the town of Cambo-les-Bains in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques , but was quickly released and travelled to Spain then Gibraltar before joining the Free French Forces of General de Gaulle in Algeria . In the Free North Africa, he became
635-607: A bloody siege, they conquered Oran . Following their decisive victories over the Algerians in the western-coastal areas of Algeria, the Spanish decided to get bolder, and invaded more Algerian cities. In 1510, they led a series of sieges and attacks, taking over Bejaia in a large siege , and leading a semi-successful siege against Algiers . They also besieged Tlemcen. In 1511, they took control over Cherchell and Jijel , and attacked Mostaganem where although they were not able to conquer
762-514: A conservative newspaper, to publish his call, in which he stated soberly that "a woman froze to death tonight at 3:00 AM, on the pavement of Sebastopol Boulevard, clutching the eviction notice which the day before had made her homeless". He went on to describe the drama of homeless life, claiming that in "every town in France, in every quarter of Paris" ministry was needed based on "these simple words: 'If you suffer, whoever you are, enter, eat, sleep, recover hope, here you are loved'". The next morning,
889-487: A contestant on the Radio Luxembourg game show Quitte ou double ( Double or Nothing ) for the prize money; he ended up winning 256,000 francs . Grouès became famous during the extremely cold winter of 1954 in France, when homeless people were dying in the streets. Following the failure of the projected law on lodgings, he gave a well-remembered speech on Radio Luxembourg on 1 February 1954, and asked Le Figaro ,
1016-544: A destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, who became known as colons and later, as Pied-Noirs . Between 1825 and 1847, 50,000 French people emigrated to Algeria. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communal land from tribal peoples, and the application of modern agricultural techniques that increased the amount of arable land. Many Europeans settled in Oran and Algiers , and by
1143-625: A distinct native population that came to be called Berbers , who are the indigenous peoples of northern Africa. From their principal center of power at Carthage , the Carthaginians expanded and established small settlements along the North African coast; by 600 BC, a Phoenician presence existed at Tipasa , east of Cherchell , Hippo Regius (modern Annaba ) and Rusicade (modern Skikda ). These settlements served as market towns as well as anchorages. As Carthaginian power grew, its impact on
1270-911: A major supplier of natural gas to Europe. The Algerian military is one of the largest in Africa, with the highest defence budget on the continent and among the highest in the world (ranks 22nd globally). Algeria is a member of the African Union , the Arab League , the OIC , OPEC , the United Nations, and the Arab Maghreb Union , of which it is a founding member. Different forms of the name Algeria include: Arabic : الجزائر , romanized : al-Jazāʾir , Algerian Arabic : دزاير , romanized: dzāyer , French : l'Algérie . The country's full name
1397-570: A man originating from modern day Algeria known as Abd al-Mu'min would soon take control over the Maghreb. During the time of the Almohad Dynasty Abd al-Mu'min 's tribe, the Koumïa, were the main supporters of the throne and the most important body of the empire. Defeating the weakening Almoravid Empire and taking control over Morocco in 1147, they pushed into Algeria in 1152, taking control over Tlemcen, Oran, and Algiers, wrestling control from
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#17330858427371524-468: A mixed system of "total domination and total colonization" whereby French military would wage total war against civilian populations while a colonial administration would provide rule of law and property rights to settlers within French occupied cities. From 1848 until independence, France administered the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria as an integral part and département of the nation. One of France's longest-held overseas territories, Algeria became
1651-458: A mother or father and turns them into objects. The Abbé also opposed the traditional Catholic policy on contraceptives . He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution . As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt a Constitution for the Federation of Earth . Abbé Pierre had
1778-555: A number of homeless people's deaths and Abbé Pierre appealed through the newspapers and on the radio for donations. The French people responded and Emmaus grew from a national charity into an international one. Emmaus Communities now began to appear across Europe, French West Africa, the Far East and South America. By 2017 there were 400 Emmaus organisations in 44 countries. The first British Emmaus Community appeared in Cambridge in 1992. It
1905-454: A place to stock them throughout the country. Moreover, this call attracted volunteers from all over the country to help them, including wealthy bourgeoises who were emotionally shaken by the Abbé's call: first to do the redistribution, but then to duplicate the effort all around France. Quite quickly, Grouès had to organise his movement by creating the Emmaus communities on 23 March 1954. A book
2032-576: A popular figure. The Abbé's positions towards the Church and the Vatican also brought controversy. His positions on social issues and engagements were at times explicitly socialist and opposed to the Church. He maintained a relationship with the progressive French Catholic Bishop Jacques Gaillot , to which he recalled his duty of "instinct of a measured insolence". He did not like Mother Teresa ; despite her work for
2159-578: A predecessor of Liberation theology , who asked for his advice on the Colombian Church's criticism of "workers' priests". He was also received by US president Eisenhower and Mohammed V of Morocco in 1955 and 1956. In 1962, he resided for several months in Charles de Foucauld 's retreat in Béni-Abbés (Algeria). Abbé Pierre was then called to India in 1971 by Jayaprakash Narayan to represent, along with
2286-637: A succession of Islamic Arab and Berber dynasties between the eighth and 15th centuries, the Regency of Algiers was established in 1516 as a largely independent tributary state of the Ottoman Empire . After nearly three centuries as a major power in the Mediterranean, the country was invaded by France in 1830 and formally annexed in 1848, though it was not fully conquered and pacified until 1903. French rule brought mass European settlement that displaced
2413-600: A three-year-long siege of Sarajevo , he went there to exhort nations of the world to put an end to the violence, and requested French military operation against the Serb positions in Bosnia . During the Gulf War (1990–91), Abbé Pierre directly addressed himself to US President George H. W. Bush and Iraq President Saddam Hussein . He asked French president François Mitterrand to engage himself in matters concerning refugees, in particular by
2540-712: A universal federalist movement. After a bloody accident resulting in the death of a blue-collar worker, Édouard Mazé, in Brest in 1950, Henri Antoine Grouès decided to put an end to his MRP affiliation on 28 April 1950, writing a letter titled "Pourquoi je quitte le MRP" ("Why I'm leaving the MRP"), where he denounced the political and social attitude of the MRP party. He then joined the Christian socialist movement named Ligue de la jeune République , created in 1912 by Marc Sangnier , but decided to finally end his political career. In 1951, before
2667-471: Is a regional power in North Africa and a middle power in global affairs. The country has the second-highest Human Development Index in continental Africa and one of the largest economies in Africa , due mostly to its large petroleum and natural gas reserves, which are the sixteenth and ninth-largest in the world, respectively. Sonatrach , the national oil company, is the largest company in Africa and
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#17330858427372794-490: Is an international solidarity movement founded in Paris in 1949 by Catholic priest and Capuchin friar Abbé Pierre to combat poverty and homelessness . Since 1971 regional and national initiatives have been grouped under a parent organization, Emmaus International, now run by Jean Rousseau, representing 350 groups in 37 countries, offering a range of charitable services. Emmaus is a secular organisation, but communities around
2921-524: Is now Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Spain, Malta and Italy. The Hammadids captured and held important regions such as Ouargla, Constantine, Sfax, Susa, Algiers, Tripoli and Fez establishing their rule in every country in the Maghreb region. The Fatimids which was created and established by the Kutama Berbers conquered all of North Africa as well as Sicily and parts of the Middle East. Following
3048-489: Is officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (Arabic: الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية , romanized: al-Jumhūriyah al-Jazāʾiriyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyah ash‑Shaʿbiyah ; French: République algérienne démocratique et populaire , abbr. RADP; Berber Tifinagh : ⵜⴰⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰ ⵜⴰⵣⵣⴰⵢⵔⵉⵜ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⴳⴷⴰⵢⵜ ⵜⴰⵖⴻⵔⴼⴰⵏⵜ , Berber Latin alphabet : Tagduda tazzayrit tamagdayt taɣerfant ). Algeria's name derives from
3175-520: Is the world's tenth-largest nation by area , and the largest nation in Africa . It has a semi-arid climate, with the Sahara desert dominating most of the territory except for its fertile and mountainous north, where most of the population is concentrated. With a population of 44 million, Algeria is the tenth-most populous country in Africa, and the 33rd-most populous country in the world. Algeria's official languages are Arabic and Tamazight ; French
3302-573: Is to help poor and homeless people. It is a secular organization. In 1950 the first community of Emmaus companions was created in Neuilly-Plaisance close to Paris in France. The Emmaus community raises funds for the construction of housing by selling used goods. "Emmaus, it's a little like the wheelbarrow, the shovels and the pickaxes coming before the banners. A sort of social fuel derived from salvaging defeating men". There were initial difficulties raising funds, so in 1952, Abbé Pierre decided to be
3429-545: Is to take care of the happiness of the three million Arabs, whom the fate of arms has brought under our domination." During this time, only Kabylia resisted, the Kabylians were not colonized until after the Mokrani Revolt in 1871. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote and never completed an unpublished essay outlining his ideas for how to transform Algeria from an occupied tributary state to a colonial regime, wherein he advocated for
3556-490: Is used in media, education, and certain administrative matters, but it has no official status. The vast majority of the population speak the Algerian dialect of Arabic . Most Algerians are Arabs , with Berbers forming a sizeable minority. Sunni Islam is the official religion and practised by 99 percent of the population. Algeria is a semi-presidential republic composed of 58 provinces ( wilayas ) and 1,541 communes . It
3683-552: The Canard enchaîné satirical newspaper, which prompted a series of denunciations against his book, "The Foundational Myths of Israeli Politics", and led Garaudy to be charged of negationism (before being convicted in 1998, under the 1990 Gayssot Act ). But Garaudy provoked public indignation when he announced in March that he was supported by the Abbé Pierre, who was immediately excluded from
3810-745: The Ligue des droits de l'homme (Human Rights League) France in the issues of refugees. Indira Gandhi then invited him to deal with the question of Bengali refugees, and Grouès founded Emmaus communities in Bangladesh . Emmaus ( Emmaüs in French) was started in 1949. Its name is a reference to a village in Palestine appearing in the Gospel of Luke , where two disciples extended hospitality to Jesus just after his resurrection without recognizing him. In that way, Emmaus's mission
3937-542: The ANSA , Italian press agency, recalled that he had supported in 2005 one of his physicians, Michele d'Auria, who was a former member of Prima Linea , an Italian far-left group, and was accused of having participated in hold-ups during 1990. Like many other Italian activists, he had exiled himself to France during the " years of lead ", and then joined the Emmaus companions. La Repubblica specified that Italian justice has recognized
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4064-533: The Almohads in the second half of the 12th century. The influx of Bedouin tribes was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural Arabization of the Maghreb and in the spread of nomadism in areas where agriculture had previously been dominant. Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by the Banu Hilal tribes had become completely arid desert. The Almohads originating from modern day Morocco, although founded by
4191-655: The French Resistance during the Second World War, when he operated under several different names. Based in Grenoble, an important center of the Resistance, he helped Jews and politically persecuted escape to Switzerland. In 1942, he assisted Jacques de Gaulle (the brother of Charles de Gaulle ) and his wife escape to Switzerland. He participated in establishing a section of the maquis where he officially became one of
4318-579: The Kingdom of Altava . During the reign of Kusaila its territory extended from the region of modern-day Fez in the west to the western Aurès and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east. After negligible resistance from the locals, Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate conquered Algeria in the early 8th century. Large numbers of the indigenous Berber people converted to Islam. Christians, Berber and Latin speakers remained in
4445-469: The Levant . Algeria was the site of the highest state of development of Middle Paleolithic Flake tool techniques. Tools of this era, starting about 30,000 BC, are called Aterian (after the archaeological site of Bir el Ater , south of Tebessa ). The earliest blade industries in North Africa are called Iberomaurusian (located mainly in the Oran region). This industry appears to have spread throughout
4572-570: The Moulouya River in modern-day Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean. The high point of Berber civilisation, unequalled until the coming of the Almohads and Almoravids more than a millennium later, was reached during the reign of Masinissa in the 2nd century BC. After Masinissa's death in 148 BC, the Berber kingdoms were divided and reunited several times. Masinissa's line survived until 24 AD, when
4699-751: The Nile and the Red Sea were living Bedouin nomad tribes expelled from Arabia for their disruption and turbulency. The Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym for example, who regularly disrupted farmers in the Nile Valley since the nomads would often loot their farms. The then Fatimid vizier decided to destroy what he could not control, and broke a deal with the chiefs of these Bedouin tribes. The Fatimids even gave them money to leave. Whole tribes set off with women, children, elders, animals and camping equipment. Some stopped on
4826-551: The Odjak of Algiers; and the Reis or the company of corsair captains rebelled, they removed the Ottoman viceroy from power, and placed one of its own in power. The new leader received the title of "Agha" then " Dey " in 1671, and the right to select passed to the divan , a council of some sixty military senior officers. Thus Algiers became a sovereign military republic. It was at first dominated by
4953-719: The Ottoman sultan . Algerian nationalist, historian and statesman Ahmed Tewfik El Madani regarded the regency as the "first Algerian state" and the "Algerian Ottoman republic". Around ~1.8-million-year-old stone artifacts from Ain Hanech (Algeria) were considered to represent the oldest archaeological materials in North Africa. Stone artifacts and cut-marked bones that were excavated from two nearby deposits at Ain Boucherit are estimated to be ~1.9 million years old, and even older stone artifacts to be as old as ~2.4 million years. Hence,
5080-511: The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa . It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia ; to the east by Libya ; to the southeast by Niger ; to the southwest by Mali , Mauritania , and Western Sahara ; to the west by Morocco ; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea . The capital and largest city is Algiers , located in
5207-584: The Spanish Navy bombarded Algiers in 1783 and 1784 . For the attack in 1784, the Spanish fleet was to be joined by ships from such traditional enemies of Algiers as Naples , Portugal and the Knights of Malta . Over 20,000 cannonballs were fired, but all these military campaigns were doomed and Spain had to ask for peace in 1786 and paid 1 million pesos to the Dey. In 1792, Algiers took back Oran and Mers el Kébir,
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5334-599: The Val-de-Grâce military hospital in Paris, following a lung infection, aged 94. He took a stance on most social struggles: supporting illegal aliens , assisting the homeless on the "Enfants de Don Quichotte" movement (end of 2006-start of 2007) and social movements in favor of requisitioning empty buildings and offices ( squats ), etc. He continued to read La Croix , the Catholic social newspaper every day. In January 2007, he went to
5461-591: The Zirids seceded. To punish them the Fatimids sent the Arab Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym against them. The resultant war is recounted in the epic Tāghribāt . In Al-Tāghrībāt the Amazigh Zirid Hero Khālīfā Al-Zānatī asks daily, for duels, to defeat the Hilalan hero Ābu Zayd al-Hilalī and many other Arab knights in a string of victories. The Zirids , however, were ultimately defeated ushering in an adoption of Arab customs and culture. The indigenous Amazigh tribes, however, remained largely independent, and depending on tribe, location and time controlled varying parts of
5588-434: The 11th. The last were evacuated to Sicily by the Normans and the few remaining died out in the 14th century. During the Middle Ages , North Africa was home to many great scholars, saints and sovereigns including Judah Ibn Quraysh , the first grammarian to mention Semitic and Berber languages, the great Sufi masters Sidi Boumediene (Abu Madyan) and Sidi El Houari , and the Emirs Abd Al Mu'min and Yāghmūrasen . It
5715-467: The Abbé again of the necessity and value of such charitable struggles and the usefulness of the media in such endeavours. In 1983, he spoke with Italian President Sandro Pertini to plead the cause of Vanni Mulinaris, imprisoned on charge of assistance to the Red Brigades (BR), and even observed eight days of hunger strike from 26 May to 3 June 1984 in the Cathedral of Turin to protest against detention conditions of "Brigadists" in Italian prisons and
5842-462: The Ain Boucherit evidence shows that ancestral hominins inhabited the Mediterranean fringe in northern Africa much earlier than previously thought. The evidence strongly argues for early dispersal of stone tool manufacture and use from East Africa, or a possible multiple-origin scenario of stone technology in both East and North Africa. Neanderthal tool makers produced hand axes in the Levalloisian and Mousterian styles (43,000 BC) similar to those in
5969-411: The Almohads in 1248 after killing their Caliph in a successful ambush near Oujda. The Zayyanids retained their control over Algeria for 3 centuries. Much of the eastern territories of Algeria were under the authority of the Hafsid dynasty , although the Emirate of Bejaia encompassing the Algerian territories of the Hafsids would occasionally be independent from central Tunisian control. At their peak
6096-417: The BR. In 1988, Abbé Pierre met representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss the difficult financial, monetary and human issues brought by the huge Third World debt (starting in 1982, Mexico had announced it could not pay the service of its debt, triggering the 1980s Latin American debt crisis ). In the 1990s, the Abbé criticized the apartheid regime in South Africa . In 1995, after
6223-489: The Berber revolt numerous independent states emerged across the Maghreb. In Algeria the Rustamid Kingdom was established. The Rustamid realm stretched from Tafilalt in Morocco to the Nafusa mountains in Libya including south, central and western Tunisia therefore including territory in all of the modern day Maghreb countries, in the south the Rustamid realm expanded to the modern borders of Mali and included territory in Mauritania . Once extending their control over all of
6350-414: The Deportation and Resistance Museum of the Isère department where Grouès carried out most of his resistance activities declared that Abbé Pierre would have merited ten times to be named Righteous Among the Nations for his struggle in favor of Jews during Vichy . Following this 1996 controversial support to a personal acquaintance, the Abbé was shunned for a period by the media, although Grouès remained
6477-409: The Emmaus Communities". He was often sick, particularly in the lungs when he was young. He was left unscathed in several dangerous situations: In July 2024, the Fondation Abbé Pierre and Emmaus issued a statement about the results of an investigation they had commissioned after reports of abuse by Pierre had come to light. An independent research group reported that seven women (one of them a minor at
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#17330858427376604-460: The Emmaus charity movement, he never completely abandoned the political field, taking strong stances on many and various subjects. Thus, when the decolonization movement was slowly beginning to emerge in the whole world, he attempted in 1956 to convince Tunisian leader Habib Bourguiba to obtain independence without using violence. Present in various international conferences at the end of the 1950s, he met Colombian priest Camilo Torres (1929–1966),
6731-408: The French destroyed over 8,000 villages and relocated over 2 million Algerians to concentration camps . The war led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Algerians and hundreds of thousands of injuries. Historians, like Alistair Horne and Raymond Aron , state that the actual number of Algerian Muslim war dead was far greater than the original FLN and official French estimates but was less than
6858-484: The Hilian Arabs, and by the same year they defeated Hammadids who controlled Eastern Algeria. Following their decisive defeat in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 the Almohads began collapsing, and in 1235 the governor of modern-day Western Algeria, Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan declared his independence and established the Kingdom of Tlemcen and the Zayyanid dynasty . Warring with the Almohad forces attempting to restore control over Algeria for 13 years, they defeated
6985-441: The Islamic Era. The Berber people historically consisted of several tribes. The two main branches were the Botr and Barnès tribes, who were divided into tribes, and again into sub-tribes. Each region of the Maghreb contained several tribes (for example, Sanhadja , Houara , Zenata , Masmouda , Kutama , Awarba, and Berghwata ). All these tribes made independent territorial decisions. Several Amazigh dynasties emerged during
7112-418: The Legion of Honor by Jacques Chirac . He also received the Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood among Peoples in 1991 "For having fought, throughout his life, for the defence of human rights, democracy and peace. For having entirely dedicated himself to helping to relieve spiritual and physical suffering. For having inspired – regardless of nationality, race or religion – universal solidarity with
7239-472: The Maghreb, at times unifying it (as under the Fatimids). The Fatimid Islamic state, also known as Fatimid Caliphate made an Islamic empire that included North Africa, Sicily, Palestine , Jordan , Lebanon , Syria , Egypt , the Red Sea coast of Africa, Tihamah, Hejaz and Yemen . Caliphates from Northern Africa traded with the other empires of their time, as well as forming part of a confederated support and trade network with other Islamic states during
7366-403: The Maghreb, part of Spain and briefly over Sicily, originating from modern Algeria, the Zirids only controlled modern Ifriqiya by the 11th century. The Zirids recognized nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid caliphs of Cairo. El Mu'izz the Zirid ruler decided to end this recognition and declared his independence. The Zirids also fought against other Zenata Kingdoms, for example the Maghrawa ,
7493-444: The Middle Ages in the Maghreb and other nearby lands. Ibn Khaldun provides a table summarising the Amazigh dynasties of the Maghreb region, the Zirid , Ifranid , Maghrawa , Almoravid , Hammadid , Almohad , Merinid , Abdalwadid , Wattasid , Meknassa and Hafsid dynasties. Both of the Hammadid and Zirid empires as well as the Fatimids established their rule in all of the Maghreb countries. The Zirids ruled land in what
7620-431: The Muslim population, which lacked political and economic status under the colonial system, gave rise to demands for greater political autonomy and eventually independence from France . In May 1945, the uprising against the occupying French forces was suppressed through what is now known as the Sétif and Guelma massacre . Tensions between the two population groups came to a head in 1954, when the first violent events of what
7747-556: The National Assembly to lobby for a law on lodging homeless people. Following his death, the Minister of Social Cohesion Jean-Louis Borloo ( UMP ) decided to give Abbé Pierre's name to the law, despite the latter's scepticism of the law's real value. In 2005 he opposed conservative deputies who wanted to reform the Gayssot Act on housing projects ( loi SRU ), which would have imposed a 20% housing project limit in each town. After homage by dignitaries, several hundred ordinary Parisians (among them professor Albert Jacquard , who worked with
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#17330858427377874-406: The Romans in the Punic Wars . In 146 BC the city of Carthage was destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Berber leaders in the hinterland grew. By the 2nd century BC, several large but loosely administered Berber kingdoms had emerged. Two of them were established in Numidia , behind the coastal areas controlled by Carthage. West of Numidia lay Mauretania , which extended across
8001-461: The Vatican, pointed journalists to the statement made by the French Church, while Benedict XVI did mention his death in private audiences. Official reactions from the Church came in two interviews of French cardinals, Roger Etchegaray and Paul Poupard . His criticisms of what he considered the lavish lifestyle of the Vatican got him a lot of publicity (especially when he reproached John Paul II for his expensive travels), but were not well received by
8128-407: The Zayyanid kingdom included all of Morocco as its vassal to the west and in the east reached as far as Tunis which they captured during the reign of Abu Tashfin. After several conflicts with local Barbary pirates sponsored by the Zayyanid sultans, Spain decided to invade Algeria and defeat the native Kingdom of Tlemcen. In 1505, they invaded and captured Mers el Kébir , and in 1509 after
8255-462: The abbé for the cause of homelessness) went to the Val-de-Grâce chapel to pay their respects. His funeral on 26 January 2007 at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was attended by numerous dignitaries: President Jacques Chirac , former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin , many French Ministers , and the Companions of Emmaus, who were seated in the cathedral's first rows according to Abbé Pierre's last wishes. He
8382-433: The attacks on U.S. ships in 1815. A year later, a combined Anglo - Dutch fleet, under the command of Lord Exmouth bombarded Algiers to stop similar attacks on European fishermen. These efforts proved successful, although Algerian piracy would continue until the French conquest in 1830. Under the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded and captured Algiers in 1830. According to several historians,
8509-460: The captives. According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th century, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves. They often made raids on European coastal towns to capture Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in North Africa and other parts of the Ottoman Empire . In 1544, for example, Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the island of Ischia , taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 9,000 inhabitants of Lipari , almost
8636-427: The cities of North Africa. Algiers lost between 30,000 and 50,000 inhabitants to the plague in 1620–21, and had high fatalities in 1654–57, 1665, 1691 and 1740–42. The Barbary pirates preyed on Christian and other non-Islamic shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea. The pirates often took the passengers and crew on the ships and sold them or used them as slaves . They also did a brisk business in ransoming some of
8763-405: The cities, instead looting them and destroying them. The invasion kept going, and in 1057 the Arabs spread on the high plains of Constantine where they encircled the Qalaa of Banu Hammad (capital of the Hammadid Emirate ), as they had done in Kairouan a few decades ago. From there they gradually gained the upper Algiers and Oran plains. Some of these territories were forcibly taken back by
8890-402: The city of Algiers , which in turn derives from the Arabic al-Jazāʾir ( الجزائر , "the islands"), referring to four small islands off its coast, a truncated form of the older Jazāʾir Banī Mazghanna ( جزائر بني مزغنة , "islands of Bani Mazghanna"). The name was given by Buluggin ibn Ziri after he established the city on the ruins of the Phoenician city of Icosium in 950. It
9017-402: The city, they were able to force a tribute on them. In 1516, the Turkish privateer brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa , who operated successfully under the Hafsids , moved their base of operations to Algiers. They succeeded in conquering Jijel and Algiers from the Spaniards with help from the locals who saw them as liberators from the Christians, but the brothers eventually assassinated
9144-531: The coastal regions of the Maghreb between 15,000 and 10,000 BC. Neolithic civilization (animal domestication and agriculture) developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghreb perhaps as early as 11,000 BC or as late as between 6000 and 2000 BC. This life, richly depicted in the Tassili n'Ajjer paintings, predominated in Algeria until the classical period. The mixture of peoples of North Africa coalesced eventually into
9271-703: The command of Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon sailed as far as Iceland , raiding and capturing slaves . Two weeks earlier another pirate ship from Salé in Morocco had also raided in Iceland. Some of the slaves brought to Algiers were later ransomed back to Iceland, but some chose to stay in Algeria. In 1629, pirate ships from Algeria raided the Faroe Islands . In 1659, the Janissaries stationed in Algiers, also known commonly as
9398-701: The creation of a stronger organisation than the current UN High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR). He encountered this year the Dalai Lama during inter-religious peace encounters. A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause , he has attracted attention with some of his statements on the Israeli-Palestine conflict . His support "à titre amical" ("in title of friendship") for Roger Garaudy in 1996 brought controversy. The "Garaudy Affair" had been revealed in January 1996 by
9525-598: The decision to join a monastic order, but he had to wait until he was seventeen and a half to fulfill this ambition. In 1931, Grouès entered the Capuchin Order , renouncing his inheritance and offering all his possessions to charity. Known as frère Philippe (Brother Philippe), he entered the monastery of Crest in 1932, where he lived for seven years and was ordained a priest on 24 August 1938. He had to leave in 1939 after developing severe lung infections, which made monastic life difficult to cope with. He became chaplain to
9652-500: The definition of its borders with its neighboring entities on the east and west. The Ottoman Turks who settled in Algeria referred both to themselves and the peoples as " Algerians ". Acting as a central military and political authority in the regency, the Ottoman Turks shaped the modern political identity of Algeria as a state possessing all the attributes of sovereign independence, despite still being nominally subject to
9779-511: The distinction of having been voted France's most popular person for many years, though he was surpassed in 2003 by Zinedine Zidane , moving to second place. In 2005, Abbé Pierre came third in a television poll to choose Le Plus Grand Français (The Greatest Frenchman). In 1998, he has been made Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec while in 2004, he was awarded the Grand Cross of
9906-489: The early 20th century they formed a majority of the population in both cities. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the European share was almost a fifth of the population. The French government aimed at making Algeria an assimilated part of France, and this included substantial educational investments especially after 1900. The indigenous cultural and religious resistance heavily opposed this tendency, but in contrast to
10033-760: The early 4th century BC, Berbers formed the single largest element of the Carthaginian army. In the Revolt of the Mercenaries , Berber soldiers rebelled from 241 to 238 BC after being unpaid following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War . They succeeded in obtaining control of much of Carthage's North African territory, and they minted coins bearing the name Libyan, used in Greek to describe natives of North Africa. The Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by
10160-438: The end of his mandate, he returned to his first vocation: helping the homeless. With the modest funds he had received as a deputy, he invested in a run-down house near Paris in the Neuilly-Plaisance neighbourhood, repairing the whole house. He made it the first Emmaus base (because, according to him, it was simply too big for one person). Although the priest had left representative politics , preferring to invest his energies in
10287-611: The entire population. In 1551, the Ottoman governor of Algiers, Turgut Reis , enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo . Barbary pirates often attacked the Balearic Islands . The threat was so severe that residents abandoned the island of Formentera . The introduction of broad-sail ships from the beginning of the 17th century allowed them to branch out into the Atlantic. In July 1627 two pirate ships from Algiers under
10414-466: The far north on the Mediterranean coast. Inhabited since prehistory , Algeria has been at the crossroads of numerous cultures and civilizations, including the Phoenicians , Numidians , Romans , Vandals , and Byzantine Greeks . Its modern identity is rooted in centuries of Arab Muslim migration waves since the seventh century and the subsequent Arabization of the indigenous populations. Following
10541-691: The few in North Africa who remained independent. The Berber people were so resistant that even during the Muslim conquest of North Africa they still had control and possession over their mountains. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire led to the establishment of a native Kingdom based in Altava (modern-day Algeria) known as the Mauro-Roman Kingdom . It was succeeded by another Kingdom based in Altava,
10668-622: The great majority in Tunisia until the end of the 9th century and Muslims only became a vast majority some time in the 10th. After the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate, numerous local dynasties emerged, including the Rustamids , Aghlabids , Fatimids , Zirids , Hammadids , Almoravids , Almohads and the Zayyanids . The Christians left in three waves: after the initial conquest, in the 10th century and
10795-555: The honour committee of the LICRA (International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism). The Abbé condemned those who tried to "negate, banalize or falsify the Shoah", but his continued support to Garaudy as a friend was criticized by all anti-racist, Jewish organisations ( MRAP , CRIF , Anti-Defamation League , etc.) and the Church hierarchy. His friend Bernard Kouchner , co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), criticized him for "absolving
10922-845: The imprisonment without trial of Vanni Mulinaris, who was recognized innocent sometimes afterwards. Italian magistrate Carlo Mastelloni recalled in the Corriere della Sera in 2007 that a niece of the Abbé was a secretary at Hyperion language school in Paris, directed by Vanni Mulinaris, and married to one of the Italians refugees then wanted by the Italian justice. According to the Corriere della Sera , it would even have been him who convinced then president François Mitterrand to grant protection from extradition to left-wing Italian activists who took refuge in France and had broken with their past. More than 20 years later,
11049-456: The indigenous population increased dramatically. Berber civilisation was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organisation supported several states. Trade links between Carthage and the Berbers in the interior grew, but territorial expansion also resulted in the enslavement or military recruitment of some Berbers and in the extraction of tribute from others. By
11176-582: The innocence of all people close to the Hyperion School. Following Grouès' death in January 2007, Italian magistrate Carlo Mastelloni declared to the Corriere della Sera that during the abduction of Aldo Moro Abbé Pierre had gone to the Christian Democrats' headquarters in Rome in an attempt to speak with its secretary Benigno Zaccagnini , in favor of a "hard line" of refusal of negotiations along with
11303-533: The institution of a regular administration, governors with the title of pasha ruled for three-year terms. The pasha was assisted by an autonomous janissary unit, known in Algeria as the Ojaq who were led by an agha . Discontent among the ojaq rose in the mid-1600s because they were not paid regularly, and they repeatedly revolted against the pasha. As a result, the agha charged the pasha with corruption and incompetence and seized power in 1659. Plague had repeatedly struck
11430-512: The intolerable," while Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger (and archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005) publicly disavowed him. The Abbé then went into retreat in the Benedictine monastery of Praglia near Padua, Italy . In the film documentary Un abbé nommé Pierre, une vie au service des autres , the Abbé declared that his support had been towards the person of Roger Garaudy, and not towards statements in his book, which he had not read. The curator of
11557-564: The land, as they were harassed by local tribes. In fact, by the time the Byzantines arrived Leptis Magna was abandoned and the Msellata region was occupied by the indigenous Laguatan who had been busy facilitating an Amazigh political, military and cultural revival. Furthermore, during the rule of the Romans, Byzantines, Vandals, Carthaginians, and Ottomans the Berber people were the only or one of
11684-697: The local leaders in the Vercors Plateau and in the Chartreuse Mountains . He helped people to avoid being taken into the Service du travail obligatoire (STO), the Nazi forced-labour program agreed upon with Pierre Laval , by creating in Grenoble the first refuge for resistants to the STO; he founded the clandestine newspaper L'Union patriotique indépendante . For a time, in 1943, he was given shelter by Lucie Coutaz ,
11811-434: The local noble Salim al-Tumi and took control over the city and the surrounding regions. Their state is known as the Regency of Algiers . When Aruj was killed in 1518 during his invasion of Tlemcen , Hayreddin succeeded him as military commander of Algiers. The Ottoman sultan gave him the title of beylerbey and a contingent of some 2,000 janissaries . With the aid of this force and native Algerians, Hayreddin conquered
11938-468: The local population, which was reduced by up to one-third due to warfare, disease, and starvation. The Sétif and Guelma massacre in 1945 catalysed local resistance that culminated in the outbreak of the Algerian War in 1954. Algeria gained its independence in 1962. The country descended into a bloody civil war from 1992 to 2002. Spanning 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), Algeria
12065-467: The methods used by the French to establish control over Algeria reached genocidal proportions. Historian Ben Kiernan wrote on the French conquest of Algeria: "By 1875, the French conquest was complete. The war had killed approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians since 1830." French losses from 1831 to 1851 were 92,329 dead in the hospital and only 3,336 killed in action. In 1872, The Algerian population stood at about 2.9 million. French policy
12192-580: The odjak; but by the 18th century, it had become the dey's instrument. Although Algiers remained nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, in reality they acted independently from the rest of the Empire, and often had wars with other Ottoman subjects and territories such as the Beylik of Tunis . The dey was in effect a constitutional autocrat. The dey was elected for a life term, but in the 159 years (1671–1830) that
12319-510: The operation "Charity Christmas", which, relayed by France Soir , raised 6 million francs and 200 tons of products. The actor Coluche , who had organized the charitable Restos du Cœur , offered him 150 million French cents received by his organisation. Coluche's huge success with the Restos du Cœur, caused by his popularity (Coluche had even tried to nominate himself as a candidate in the 1981 presidential election before withdrawing), convinced
12446-637: The other colonized countries' path in central Asia and Caucasus , Algeria kept its individual skills and a relatively human-capital intensive agriculture. During the Second World War , Algeria came under Vichy control before being liberated by the Allies in Operation Torch , which saw the first large-scale deployment of American troops in the North African campaign . Gradually, dissatisfaction among
12573-426: The peace of His kingdom. By way of comfort and hope, His Holiness sends you a heartfelt apostolic blessing, which he extends to the family of the departed, to members of the communities of Emmaus, and to everyone gathering for the funeral". His support for the ordination of women and for married clergy put him at odds with Catholic tradition, Church leaders and a substantial portion of French Catholics that followed
12700-613: The poor, her strict adherence to Catholic teaching on morality did not sit well with Abbé Pierre's left wing ideology. He had difficult relations with the Vatican. L'Osservatore Romano , not known for reporting the deaths of priests, did not report on his death right away in 2007. Even though it is not customary for the Pope to offer condolences on the death of individual priests, Abbé Pierre's supporters were heavily critical of Pope Benedict XVI for not making an exception. Father Lombardi, spokesman of
12827-406: The press wrote of an "uprising of kindness" ( insurrection de la bonté ) and the now-famous call for help ended up raising 500 million francs in donations ( Charlie Chaplin gave 2 million). This enormous amount was totally unexpected; telephone operators and the postal service were overwhelmed, and owing to the volume of donations, several weeks were needed just to sort them, distribute them, and find
12954-612: The priest's name from its logo. The Abbé Pierre Centre in Esteville in Normandy, where he lived for many years and is buried, was to close, and the disposal of hundreds of statuettes, busts and other images of the charity's creator was discussed. There was evidence that colleagues in Emmaus and the Catholic Church knew about Abbé Pierre's sexual behaviour, but did not speak out. Abbé Pierre remained active until his death on 22 January 2007 in
13081-542: The priest's own garden), and then on any land they could obtain. From Parliament in 1951, Abbé Pierre dedicated himself to the homeless cause. He struggled to pay Georges and the first 18 members of the Emmaus Community. The priest was rebuffed by his Church for begging at restaurants and so organised 'rag pickers' to collect unwanted items for resale. This formed the basis of Emmaus Communities raising funds and using profits to help others. The harsh winter of 1954 led to
13208-501: The public. Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone lauded his "action in favor of poor": "Informed of the death of Abbe Pierre, the Holy Father gives thanks for his activity in favor of the poorest, by which he bore witness to the charity that comes from Christ. Entrusting to divine mercy this priest whose whole life was dedicated to fighting poverty, he asks the Lord to welcome him into
13335-629: The regency's authority was seldom applied in the Kabylia , although in 1730 the Regency was able to take control over the Kingdom of Kuku in western Kabylia. Many cities in the northern parts of the Algerian desert paid taxes to Algiers or one of its Beys. Barbary raids in the Mediterranean continued to attack Spanish merchant shipping, and as a result, the Spanish Empire launched an invasion in 1775 , then
13462-501: The remaining Berber territory was annexed to the Roman Empire . For several centuries Algeria was ruled by the Romans, who founded many colonies in the region. Algeria is home to the second-largest number of Roman sites and remains after Italy. Rome, after getting rid of its powerful rival Carthage in the year 146 BC, decided a century later to include Numidia to become the new master of North Africa. They built more than 500 cities. Like
13589-456: The rest of North Africa, Algeria was one of the breadbaskets of the empire, exporting cereals and other agricultural products. Saint Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern-day Annaba, Algeria), located in the Roman province of Africa . The Germanic Vandals of Geiseric moved into North Africa in 429, and by 435 controlled coastal Numidia. They did not make any significant settlement on
13716-508: The sick at several places and then was nominated as curate of Grenoble 's cathedral in April 1939, only a few months before the invasion of Poland . The theologian Henri de Lubac told him on the day of his priestly ordination: "Ask the Holy Spirit to grant you the same anti-clericalism of the saints". When World War II broke out in 1939, he was mobilised as a non-commissioned officer in
13843-470: The system was in place, fourteen of the twenty-nine deys were assassinated. Despite usurpation, military coups and occasional mob rule, the day-to-day operation of the Deylikal government was remarkably orderly. Although the regency patronised the tribal chieftains, it never had the unanimous allegiance of the countryside, where heavy taxation frequently provoked unrest. Autonomous tribal states were tolerated, and
13970-646: The time of abuse) gave testimony about abuse they suffered at the hands of the French priest between the late 1970s and 2005. In September 2024, a report commissioned by the Fondation reported that Abbè Pierre sexually harassed or assaulted at least two dozen women. An 8-9 year child was also allegedly abused. The abuse happened in France and in the United States. The second report led the Abbé Pierre Foundation being retitled, and Emmaus France voting on removing
14097-497: The traditional teaching of the Church. The same stances, according to British state media , made him popular among the declining number of left-wing Catholics in France. In his book Mon Dieu… pourquoi? (God… Why?, 2005), co-written with Frédéric Lenoir , he admitted to breaking his solemn promise of celibacy by having had casual sex with women. Despite very strong grassroots opposition to adoption by same-sex couples, Abbé Pierre dismissed people's concerns that it deprives children of
14224-673: The train transport corps. According to his official biography, he helped Jewish people to escape Nazi persecution following the July 1942 mass arrests in Paris, called the Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv , and another raid in the area of Grenoble in the non-occupied zone: "In July 1942, two fleeing Jews asked him for help. Having discovered the persecution taking place, he immediately went to learn how to make false passports. Starting in August 1942, he guided Jewish people to Switzerland". His pseudonym dates from his work with
14351-518: The two last Spanish strongholds in Algeria. In the same year, they conquered the Moroccan Rif and Oujda , which they then abandoned in 1795. In the 19th century, Algerian pirates forged affiliations with Caribbean powers, paying a "license tax" in exchange for safe harbor of their vessels. Attacks by Algerian pirates on American merchantmen resulted in the First and Second Barbary Wars , which ended
14478-605: The way, especially in Cyrenaica , where they are still one of the essential elements of the settlement but most arrived in Ifriqiya by the Gabes region, arriving 1051. The Zirid ruler tried to stop this rising tide, but with each encounter, the last under the walls of Kairouan , his troops were defeated and the Arabs remained masters of the battlefield. The Arabs usually did not take control over
14605-399: The whole area between Constantine and Oran (although the city of Oran remained in Spanish hands until 1792). The next beylerbey was Hayreddin's son Hasan , who assumed the position in 1544. He was a Kouloughli or of mixed origins, as his mother was an Algerian Mooresse. Until 1587 Beylerbeylik of Algiers was governed by Beylerbeys who served terms with no fixed limits. Subsequently, with
14732-492: The world have kept the name because of its symbolism. The biblical story, found in the Gospel of Luke , describes how two men saw the resurrected Jesus on the road to the town of Emmaus , and so regained hope. The organization's guiding principle can be found in the Universal Manifesto of Emmaus International: Serve those worse off than yourself before yourself. Serve the most needy first. The first Emmaus Community
14859-682: Was buried in a cemetery in Esteville , a small village in Seine-Maritime where he once lived. He wrote many books and articles, including a book for children aged over ten, titled C'est quoi la mort? . Many of his publications have been translated into English. All profits from authors' rights (books, discs and videos) go to the Fondation Abbé Pierre which supports homeless and hungry people. Emmaus (charity) Emmaus ( French : Emmaüs , pronounced [e.ma.ys] )
14986-515: Was during this time that the Fatimids or children of Fatima , daughter of Muhammad , came to the Maghreb . These "Fatimids" went on to found a long lasting dynasty stretching across the Maghreb, Hejaz and the Levant , boasting a secular inner government, as well as a powerful army and navy, made up primarily of Arabs and Levantines extending from Algeria to their capital state of Cairo . The Fatimid caliphate began to collapse when its governors
15113-625: Was elected deputy for Meurthe-et-Moselle department in both National Constituent Assemblies in 1945–1946 as an independent close to the Popular Republican Movement (MRP), mainly consisting of Christian democratic members of the Resistance. In 1946, he was re-elected as a member of the National Assembly, but this time as a member of the MRP. Abbé Pierre became vice-president of the World Federalist Movement in 1947,
15240-437: Was employed by medieval geographers such as Muhammad al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi . Algeria took its name from the Regency of Algeria or Regency of Algiers, when Ottoman rule was established in the central Maghreb in early 16th century. This period saw the installation of a political and administrative organization which participated in the establishment of the Watan el djazâïr ( وطن الجزائر , country of Algiers) and
15367-469: Was founded by Father Henri-Antoine Groues (known as Abbé Pierre ) in Paris in 1949. The former Resistance member was also an MP who fought to provide accommodation for the homeless people of Paris. He was assisted by another former Resistance member, Lucie Coutaz . Abbé Pierre also took on the first Emmaus Companion, a former convict called Georges who had attempted suicide in the Seine . George helped to build temporary homes for those in need (initially in
15494-456: Was founded by a Sunni (Muslim) , a Melkite (Catholic) archbishop and a Maronite (Christian) writer. After the 1981 election of President François Mitterrand ( Socialist Party , PS), during which Abbé Pierre called for voters to vote in blank ), he supported the initiative of the French Premier Laurent Fabius (PS) to create in 1984 the Revenu minimum d'insertion (RMI), a welfare system for indigent people. The same year, he organized
15621-410: Was later called the Algerian War began after the publication of the Declaration of 1 November 1954 . Historians have estimated that between 30,000 and 150,000 Harkis and their dependents were killed by the National Liberation Front (FLN) or by lynch mobs in Algeria. The FLN used hit and run attacks in Algeria and France as part of its war, and the French conducted severe reprisals . In addition,
15748-468: Was one of his aunts. He spent his childhood in Irigny , near Lyon. He was twelve when he met François Chabbey and went for the first time with his father to an Order circle, the brotherhood of the " Hospitaliers veilleurs " in which the mainly middle-class members would serve the poor by providing barber services. Grouès became a member of the Scouts de France in which he was nicknamed "Meditative Beaver" ( Castor méditatif ). In 1928, aged 16, he made
15875-423: Was predicated on "civilising" the country. The slave trade and piracy in Algeria ceased following the French conquest. The conquest of Algeria by the French took some time and resulted in considerable bloodshed. A combination of violence and disease epidemics caused the indigenous Algerian population to decline by nearly one-third from 1830 to 1872. On 17 September 1860, Napoleon III declared "Our first duty
16002-570: Was set up by Selwyn Image, who had been a student volunteer at an Emmaus Community in Paris. The charity provides formerly homeless people with a home and work, usually collecting, sorting and reselling donated furniture and household goods. Emmaus UK acts as a central resource to local Emmaus Communities across the UK. As of September 2016, there are 28 Emmaus Communities operating in the UK, with others under development. These communities provide accommodation and meaningful work for formerly homeless people. Algeria Algeria , officially
16129-415: Was written by Boris Simon called Abbé Pierre and the ragpickers of Emmaus . It spread knowledge about the Emmaus community. In 1955, the priest gave President Eisenhower an English translation of the book in the oval office. The Emmaus communities quickly spread worldwide. Grouès traveled to Beyrouth (Beirut, Lebanon) in 1959, to assist in the creation of the first multiconfessional Emmaus group there; it
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