Colette Anna Gr\u00e9goire<\/b>\u00a0(known as\u00a0Anna Gr\u00e9ki<\/b>; 14 March 1931 \u2013 6 January 1966) was an Algerian poet of\u00a0French\u00a0origin. She married an Algerian, considered herself Algerian, and was involved in the struggle for Algeria’s independence from France. Her work shows her love of the\u00a0Aur\u00e8s Mountains\u00a0where she grew up, and her strong political beliefs.<\/p>\n
Colette Anna Gr\u00e9goire was born on 14 March 1931 in\u00a0Batna, Algeria. She grew up in\u00a0Mena\u00e2, a small town in the\u00a0Aur\u00e8s Mountains, in a\u00a0Chaoui Berber community.She was from a third-generation French family in Algeria, and was the only child of a family of progressive teachers who were very integrated into the Muslim culture, Her father taught elementary school.[3]<\/a><\/sup> She became very conscious of the discrimination and injustice of the colonial system. As an adolescent she was extremely poor, but was helped by the community.<\/p>\n Colette Gr\u00e9goire attended university in Paris, but returned to Algeria before graduating to assist in the struggle for independence.\u00a0She joined the\u00a0Parti Communiste Alg\u00e9rien<\/i> (PCA).In 1955 she was a communist at a time when the communist party was banned. She always also fought for equal rights for women. <\/sup>Gr\u00e9goire was arrested in April 1957 and imprisoned in at the\u00a0Barberousse prison.]<\/a><\/sup> Women here were beaten, abused and tortured with water and electricity. \u00a0She was sent to an internment camp, and in 1958 was deporte robably because of her French origins.<\/sup><\/p>\n Colette Gr\u00e9goire married in 1960.<\/sup>\u00a0Her husband was an Algerian named Melki. Her pen-name Anna Gr\u00e9ki is formed from their two last names. After independence in 1962 Colette Gr\u00e9goire returned to Algeria. In 1963 she was one of the few Europeans to point out the discrimination in the law of 1963 which said that both parents should be from a paternal line born in Algeria and should be Muslim.\u00a0In 1965 she obtained her BA in French Literature and became a high school teacher in\u00a0Algiers.]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0She taught in the Lyc\u00e9e Abdelkader.<\/sup> Colette Gr\u00e9goire died on 6 January 1966 during childbirth, at the age of 34.<\/sup><\/p>\n Anna Gr\u00e9ki’s poetry reflects her love of her native land, the\u00a0Aur\u00e8s<\/a>, and her political beliefs.[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0She wrote of her native country,<\/p>\n Mon enfance et les d\u00e9lices, naquirent l\u00e0 \u00e0 Menaa, commune mixte Arris, et mes passions apr\u00e8s vingt ans, sont le fruit de leurs pr\u00e9dilections… Tout ce qui me touche en ce monde jusqu’\u00e0 l’\u00e2me, sort d’un massif peint en rose et blanc sur les cartes. (My childhood and delights were born there at Menaa, a mixed Arris commune, and after twenty years my passions are the fruit… Everything that touches me to the soul in this world comes from a massif shown in pink and white on the maps.)[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Anna Gr\u00e9ki’s poetry was among the best to be produced during the Algerian war of independence.[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0She praised the women who had the courage to join the struggle for freedom, and was optimistic about the future.[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0She did not stress the trouble she experienced in prison, but tried to raise the morale of other women. She wrote,<\/p>\n Beyond the walls closed like clenched fists Our thoughts are vertical …\u00a0<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And again,<\/p>\n I press you against my breast my sister The future is for tomorrow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Anna Gr\u00e9ki published one volume of poetry during her lifetime,\u00a0Alg\u00e9rie capitale Alger<\/i>, published in 1963 in Tunisia. The preface to this work was written by Mostefa Lacheraf.\u00a0Other works, published posthumously, are:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n WIkipedia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Colette Anna Gr\u00e9goire\u00a0(known as\u00a0Anna Gr\u00e9ki; 14 March 1931 \u2013 6 January 1966) was an Algerian poet of\u00a0French\u00a0origin. She married an Algerian, considered…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":36806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-algeria","category-featured-articles","category-historyheritage"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThrough the bars encircling the sun<\/p>\n
\nBuilder of liberty and tenderness
\nAnd I say to you await tomorrow
\nFor we know
\nThe future is soon<\/p>\n\n