Berthe Bénichou-Aboulker

Berthe-Sultana Bénichou-Aboulker (Arabic: بيرت بينيشو أبولكيرl; 16 May 1888 – 19 August 1942) was a Jewish-Algerian poet and playwright who wrote in French. Her play La Kahena, reine berbière (1933) was the "first work published by a Jewish woman in Algeria".^[1]

Berthe-Sultana Bénichou-Aboulker
Early portrait of Bénichou-Aboulker
Born	(1888-05-16)16 May 1888 Oran, Algeria
Died	19 August 1942(1942-08-19) (aged 54) Algiers, Algeria
Genre	Poetry, Drama
Notable works	La Kahena, reine berbière
Spouse	Henri Aboulker
Children	José Aboulker, Colette Aboulker-Muscat, Marcelle Lasry

Life

She was the daughter of Adélaïde Azoubib (poet and prose writer) and her second husband, Mardochée Bénichou. She had at least one sibling, a brother, Raymond Benichou.^[2] Her husband, Henri Aboulker, was a surgeon and professor; their son, José Aboulker was a surgeon and political figure;^[3] and their daughter Colette Béatrice Aboulker-Muscat was a renowned Kabbalah teacher who received the Croix de Guerre for her role in the Algerian Resistance and, in 1995, was awarded the prestigious Yakir Yerushalayim award.^[4]

References

1. Sartori & Cottenet-Hage 2006, p. 264.
2. Assan 2012, p. 156.
3. Yehezkiel 2003, pp. 26, 127, 141.
4. Bitton, Michele (31 December 1999). "Berthe Bénichou-Aboulker". Jewish Women's Archive. Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

Bibliography

• Assan, Valérie (13 June 2012). Les consistoires israélites d'Algérie au XIXe siècle: "L'alliance de la civilisation et de la religion" (in French). Armand Colin. ISBN 978-2-200-28179-3.
• Sartori, Eva Martin; Cottenet-Hage, Madeleine (1 January 2006). Daughters of Sarah: Anthology of Jewish Women Writing in French. Lynne Rienner Pub. ISBN 978-0-8419-1436-0.
• Yehezkiel, Aliza (2003). The Davidic Families: The Genealogy of Colette Aboulker-Muscat. Aliza Yehezkiel. ISBN 978-965-90295-1-8.

External links

• Berthe Bénichou-Aboulker Jewish Women's Archive